Surviving the Apocalypse with a System.

“ Bossman , you’re awake. Again !” Aiko came into Jack’s hazy view holding a torchlight in one hand. The blue light she emitted eventually made her a hard target to miss when the vision cleared up completely.

“ Bossman , Aiko thinks you should not walk through another portal for a while , you were asleep for many hours ,” she led him by hand to a group of boulders set around a fire that Nevya had lit .

A couple of rodent-like creatures were slowly roasting above this fire , Nevya taking great care to make sure no side got over cooked.

“ So it's just us ,” he started looking around to try and figure out where the portal had led them. After Naaman had left , he had just found himself walking through the rift , Aiko and Nevya running close behind to avoid being left.

The place he was in was definitely a mining tunnel , the wooden beams supporting the walls told him that much.

“ Bossman does not have to worry. Aiko personally supervised our slave when she was catching the Beard Mice. Aiko guarantees they are the best quality ,”

“ What in the world do you mean by our slave ?” right now Jack could have given anything for a button that could mute her big mouth .

When he saw Nevya , he got his answer.

“Aiko , Nevya is a person with dignity . She deserves respect. How could you even … you know what , I give up on you,”

“ But Bossman , Aiko is only calling the slave the title that the slave gave herself in front of Aiko,” Aiko pleaded innocence.

[

System Information

Quest Completed : Kill Ludicrous Caesar

Rewards : Summoning Tickets x4 , Points x550 , Forked Viper Fangs x5 , Dread Ghost Bones x10

System Warning

Manifest remaining uptime - 00:30:00:00

]

Taking a look at the blue screen , Jack could not help but notice that Manifest had remained active even when he had been unconscious.

“ Aiko , from now on you will address Nevya by her name,”

“ Yes sir ,”

“ Good . Now tell me , what happens when the talent Manifest runs out of time. Nevya here , what will become of her ?” Jack asked , looking at the powerful woman who had just stayed silent , watching the food cook even though most of the conversation going around was about her.

“ She will die ,” Aiko replied casually as she bent down to push in one of the blocks of firewood and increase the amount of fire.

“What ?” Jack wanted confirmation.

“Yes Bossman. The slave , oh wait , Aiko has forgotten Bossman’s orders. Nevya here does not have a soul. The Manifest talent allows Bossman to share his soul with talents so that they can take physical form . Once the talent expires , so will her connection to life,”

“ Will she just vanish like you do ?”

“No Bossman , the physical body is real. She will die like any person would , then decay into the soil after a lot of time has passed,”

Even though Jack would have appreciated some discretion on Aiko’s side , she was still telling the truth. Looking at the glass as half full , Jack at least knew he could count on Aiko to give the unfiltered truth no matter what was at stake.

“Nevya , say something about this,” he turned to the other woman.

“ What would my master wish for me to say? Whatever my master desires , I will make it happen,” she finally turned her head up.

For a person who was about to die in the next half hour , she certainly didn’t seem bothered.

“Bossman, this is what Aiko was talking about. Aiko asks for permission to call her by the Bossman’s forbidden name again,”

“Denied,”

“ Ookay , Aiko thought it was worth a shot though ,”

After a few more minutes of Aiko’s endless yappering , the rodents were finally good to eat.

Nevya grabbed them with her bare hands directly from the fire , not once wincing at the pain which doing that might have caused. She stuck sticks through them and then distributed the food.

Though he hadn’t let anyone know, Jack had been ravenous from the moment he had awoken.Even as he went back and forth with Aiko about decorum and treating people with respect , part of his mind had still lingered on the food cooking , his mouth watering for a taste.

He resolved to start making use of the Bag of Domicile , which the System explained could store goods in virtual space. That would definitely come in handy should he find himself starving again.

“So Earth , it's gone now huh ?” he asked no one in particular.

“Aiko thinks that’s most likely true ,”

Jack took himself back to his conversation with Naaman. The man had mentioned buying the planet more time by finding the Beast Lord who had been contracted. Of course that would make no sense to him , but Aiko was always around. He would ask her about this , but after he did something he thought was more important first.

“Nevya , you will die after my talent expires. You know that right?” He raised his eyes .

“Yes master , I have already accepted my fate ,”

“ Please , just call me Jack. I want you to tell me what you remember from your past life. Do you have any last words before you leave us , like an unfulfilled wish ?”

Nevya took her time thinking before answering Jack.

“I was the daughter of a great emperor in my past life. He taught me how to use my power and had great expectations that I would one day lead his people once he was gone.

If you ever find yourself in my world , Krassus , then put up a monument with my name on it. At least that way , my body will still be linked to the soil of my homeland , and it shall never be said that I deserted my people.”

Thirty minutes flew by faster than anyone had expected , and soon Jack was digging a shallow grave with his sword to bury Nevya’s body. Aiko remained silent all through , making Jack wonder whether guilt was finally catching up to her.

Obviously it wasn’t guilt , Aiko was just thinking of how much faster this process could have gone if Jack had just used the Bag of Domicile to store the corpse.

But she kept her thoughts to herself , sensing that they would just get Jack upset with her.

“Aiko , I don’t think I will ever use Manifest again ,” Jack paused to take one last look at Nevya. The thought of watching another person go through such a fate just broke his heart.

“Bossman , you don’t say things like that. One can never tell with the future , so it is always best to keep an open mind,”

“ Is that wisdom coming from your mouth ?” Jack started burying the body.

“Of course it is Bossman ,” there wasn’t a moment that Aiko couldn’t use to stuff herself with pride and arrogance.

“Let’s put that assertion to the test. I now want you to tell me everything you know about Beast Lords ,” the burial was finally complete and Jack could bring himself back to business.

He however did take a moment to commit Nevya’s wish to memory . Her homeworld of Krassus, he was going to find it .

“Aiko can finally prove herself to Bossman , this is a great opportunity that she will not miss!

Beast Lords are the feudal leaders of the southern continent of Praiyas. They tame even the wildest of monsters in this world and then sell bonds of Stipulatio to the highest bidder.

Aiko believes that someone may have made a large commission to multiple Beast Lords to get control of the monsters that attacked your world,”

“No , not many. Just one Beast Lord was contracted ,” Naaman’s words were finally starting to fit the puzzle.