The Manaverse

Slatewell Safe Zone

Granite City

As Jut and his party were about to make their way back out of the Safe Zone for the second time that morning, they were stopped in their tracks by a message received by everyone. The System Notification hit and the entire Zone went silent.

Attention! Safe Zone Citizens!

The System's final Initialization processes will begin in 10 hours. Please ensure you are within the Safe Zone boundary at that time. The safety and well-being of those outside of the boundary cannot be guaranteed.

9:59:54

Now the Quest Jut had received and its time limit made more sense. His time limit ended almost exactly a minute before this new timer did. His job had to be as complete as possible before the Safe Zone became locked off from the rest of the world, making saving more refugees impossible.

Jut thought he knew the answer he would get but asked Alex his question anyway.

What happens outside of the Safe Zone once it's locked off?

The answer Jut received when the chat window popped into his view made his eyes open wide in confusion and shock.

Lore Not Found...

Not found? How is that possible? Through the System, don't I have Lore on everything? Jut knew his thoughts sounded panicked.

I...

Don't know.

I'm sorry.

The chat window disappeared. It normally minimized or jumped behind other windows. This time it just vanished.

The oddity made Jut stop and think instead of falling deeper into his panic.

I doubt the System doesn't have Lore on this subject. If it's not found in the Lore given to us by the System, then either we were given a much more limited scope of Lore than I first believed, or I've not ascended high enough for access...

The countdown window was still active. Alex's chat window seemed to peek out from behind it briefly before fully moving forward again.

That is a reasonable explanation.

Jut smirked. Thank you. You're too kind. He thought sarcastically.

The chat window didn't change.

"Looks like we don't have much time left. I don't believe the System would let the Quest remain incomplete if there weren't more people out there. Let's move. This doesn't change our mission." Jonny ordered the group.

As one, even Jut, the men began marching out of the Safe Zone. He was beginning to feel like an actual part of their squad.

Even though Larry was the highest rank when the soldiers were in the military and Jonny was the lowest, Jonny was the group leader. It was undisputed to the point where it was never even discussed. They all just followed his direction.

They would discuss what to do and how to do it as a group, but Jonny was the one who issued the commands and had the final say in a tie.

Once the party made it past the Safe Zone barrier, they fell into their normal positions. Brick and Jonny led the group. Jonny had his shield up and Brick held two bats similar to Jut's new one. Randy and Jut fell in just behind them, guarding the sides of the formation while looking down alleyways, up on roofs, and at doors and windows. They each had their weapons ready. Larry was at the rear of the group, his buckler held loosely at his side as he carefully scanned behind them. Gunther, Lily, and Nox were spaced throughout the group, their ears perked up for any unusual sounds.

Less than five minutes later, Larry shouted. The act alone made everyone tense up. His words drove everyone into a defensive posture.

"Scorps. Hard and fast from four to seven."

In what had to be an ingrained behavior in the men after long hours serving together, Jut's four teammates changed their lineup. Brick and Larry turned around and Jonny moved to the new front line. Randy flanked Larry's right while Jut flanked Jonny's left. The animals each found an opening to cover.

In a flood of carapaces, stingers and clubbed tails, hammer arms, and pincers, their devilish red eyes shining, the Monster Scorpions flooded out of the closed-off buildings. They crawled out of manholes and jumped out of alleys that had been clear just moments before. Some fell from nearby rooftops. All were charging the party.

Jut realized that they were outnumbered, but he also knew it wouldn't matter. Their group had the advantage.

The street they had walked down was just wide enough that their semi-circle stopped the scorpions from getting behind them. At least, as long as more monsters didn't pop out from that direction. That was why Brick stayed behind the group. Just in case.

Jut did his job, methodically striking out at any scorpions that got close to him. He covered for Jonny by striking any monsters that tried to flank his mentor.

One scorpion struck at Jut only to have its pincer crushed beneath his new club before he swung it back and crushed the monster's head.

Jonny stepped on that monster just in time to catch a stinger on his shield that was aimed at Jut's neck. The large man was forced to take a step back as both of the creature's hammer arms came down on the shield a moment later.

Jut used the momentary standstill from the block to strike the back of the monster. The creature's carapace fractured under the blow, sending ichor everywhere.

Jonny slammed the edge of his shield into the monster's head, blocking an attack from a new monster at the same time.

Jut landed a blow on the newest monster, his bat glowing as he activated his skill. The extra magic damage was visible as the monster was left scorched and broken.

Larry and Randy were almost a mirror of Jut and Jonny. Larry would use his shield to draw scorpions in and Randy would appear and use his double strike before fading back out of danger.

The three pets used their speed and natural weapons to take down a stray monster here or there. Jut managed to see Gunther and Nox grab a bug by its pincers, effectively holding it in place. Before the spiked club of a stinger could come in for one of the dogs, Lily landed and used her claws to shred the monster's hide. Once the scorpion stopped putting up a fight, the dogs pulled it apart by keeping their teeth latched onto the monster and running in different directions.

Long minutes passed as the party wove together and apart again, killing scorpion after scorpion. Halfway through the battle, when it was clear there were no more Monsters joining in the fight, Brick jumped into the frey, his double bats striking hard and fast, taking down a majority of the remaining scorpions.

Finally, the party was surrounded by insect corpses, breathing hard and watching for more monsters. After long minutes passed, Jonny stuck his hand in the air, signaling the all-clear.

Jut let his bat rest on the ground, still huffing. "Lily. Can you check the nearby area to make sure we are safe?"

The cat made a small meow, appeared to nod, and took off in a flash. Less than a month ago, Jut would have never believed he could give her an order like that and she would listen or that she could articulate a response. Yet, the party stayed at attention until the feline returned. When Lily laid down at Jut's feet, licking her paws clean of ichor, the party finally began harvesting.

The party had developed its own way of dividing the loot and harvesting responsibilities.

Jut would use Monster Harvest on one monster. While he did so, two of the group, usually Jonny and Brick, would use their weapons to etch out two ritual circles.

They would take the Mana Chips from the monster Jut had used his skill on, and then Jut and Randy would begin using the circles on the monsters using those chips as the cost. The other three would begin dragging corpses to the two circles. Once a corpse dissipated, the loot was stacked into piles of like items.

After all of the monsters were consumed, the stacks would be divided evenly between the five members. Any remaining items that couldn't be split evenly would be given out one by one until it was all gone.

Where Mana Chips were concerned, the remaining chips that were left and couldn't be divided, usually between one and four Chips, were given to the person the group decided performed the best. This time, the group chose Brick as the battle MVP. His all-out attack killed a lot of scorpions and made the battle end faster than it otherwise would have.

When Jut was handed his stack of seventeen Mana Chips, Alex's window popped into existence.

Based on my calculations, if you performed the Ritual of Ascension without using any Mana Chips, you will have enough to obtain your third and final Mana Stone. If you only use Mana Chips, you will be short by one Mana Fragment.

"That's awesome," Jut said aloud. When his party looked at him, confused, he explained. "It looks like I am almost done with the Mana Stone Quest."

"Nice!" Brick exclaimed. "I'm about there too."

The party each congratulated each other as they realized they were all likely to finish the quest soon if not that day. Then they began packing up their loot.

"We still have over nine hours. Let's get moving." Jonny said.

"Actually, it's more like five or six. We have that Rally to attend." Brick added.

Jonny sighed while Randy and Larry each shook their heads.

"I'm going to skip it. If we can't hunt some more, then I will train on the edge of the Zone." Randy said.

Larry grunted in agreement.

Jonny shrugged. "I think I will take a shift guarding the North East. That swarm of monsters is still growing." He crossed his arms in displeasure. "I don't know how I feel about the majority of our fighting force being holed up all in one place while a horde like that exists."

Brick scowled. "I tried discussing that horde with Fredrick. He said it was too dangerous to take on and that they had orders to steer clear until a plan could be devised to handle it safely."

"Besides. I heard they are assigning extra patrols in that direction for the event." Jut added.

"Well, it looks like they will get one extra body then. I will join them." Jonny said.

Larry gestured in agreement. He was going to join Jonny.

"That's enough chatter. Let's make the most of the next four hours. Then we will get Jut back for his date." Jonny said. His tone turned teasing near the end and he nudged Jut playfully.

Jut started to object, but the party was all ready to go, so he fell into position and they marched on.

Slatewell Safe Zone

Granite City

Kit looked at her reflection in the mirror one more time, making sure her makeup and hair were perfect. She was expecting Jut to arrive any moment and she was more nervous than she had been in a long time.

Kit snapped the makeup case closed and placed it back into her inventory. She had been so happy Jut thought of her and scooped up the small case. Even though she was unlikely to use most of the colors included, it was his consideration that made her happy.

Kit remembered hearing about him around the Safe Zone the first few days after he'd arrived. She recognized his gamer tag instantly. She was not surprised in the least to learn he had taken it upon himself to rescue more survivors. She only wished she could have found him sooner so she could have joined him.

Then again, if Kit had joined Jut, she wouldn't have met up with her current party either, and they had become like sisters to her.

Three loud knocks at the door caused a stir in their assigned tower room. Kit didn't react externally, continuing with a few final touch-ups on her appearance. She heard the door open.

"Boss? You're this mystery Jut?"

"Jo? Hey. I'm glad to see you."

Kit turned to see Joy, Barbs, and Crimson all crowded around Jut who they had nearly pulled through the door. Joy's long blonde hair was bouncing more than her breasts usually did as she clung to Jut's arm. Barbs, the shortest but stoutest of the group had Jut's other arm and was pulling him deeper into the room. Kit knew the dark-haired Crimson had once gone by Jo before the initialization began.

Kit nearly flew over and shooed her party members away, the three reluctantly backing off.

"Git, you vultures. Git."

"Aw, but Kit. You brought a real cutie home." Barbs whined with her very husky voice, letting her wiry brown hair cover her face.

"He was my boss before all this." Crimson joined, looking overly sad.

"I'll fill you all in on the details when we get back. Come on, Jut." Kit pulled Jut back out into the hallway and shut the door behind them. She immediately loosened her grip on his arm but didn't let go. "Sorry about them. They have always been a bit nosy."

Jut chuckled and brushed off her concern. "It's totally okay. My team kind of teased me too. It must be a thing." He stepped back from her giving her a once-over.

Kit had dawned a black dress that ended at least three inches above her knees. It had a low enough neckline to show just enough cleavage to be teasing. Her blonde hair was down in ringlets she had worked hard on. She wore matching stockings that left an inch of skin showing and black heels.

Kit watched Jut's jaw drop. He was wearing a nice white shirt under a semi-formal jacket and black slacks. His hair was finely styled and he looked clean despite the fact that she knew he had been hunting all morning.

"Kit. You look amazing. Just wow." Jut said. He was looking her over thoroughly still.

His gaze made her feel warm. Kit made a curtsy she knew would give him a great view down her dress before smiling at him.

"You too, Jut. So handsome." Kit said exaggeratedly. She did think he was but wanted to get going. "About time you made up missing our date. Let's get moving. I'm hungry.

Jut smiled and rolled his eyes. "Like I could plan around the world ending. But, I am hungry too."

Together, they made their way out of her tower and walked across one of the sky bridges towards the concert hall where the Rally was to happen.

Kit was surprised they didn't have to push their way through the usual throng of people who were always occupying every inch of open space.

"Where are all the people?" She asked aloud, more to herself.

"The casino staff just converted a bunch of the properties outside the main grounds, but inside the barrier, into longhouses. I hear each of the smaller ones houses two or three hundred people while the larger ones can hold between a thousand and fifteen hundred. Apparently, it was a rush job but effective." Jut answered.

Xi's chat window opened. Her guide's usual green chat text on a soft blue background appeared in its usual spot.

My calculations put the population of the Safe Zone at roughly 2 million or so people. There is no way a few long houses made enough room for them all.

Xi was Kit's cousin. She had died a few months before the initialization. They had never been close but Kit had been relieved Xi had been assigned to her.

Kit spoke to Jut but was also responding to Xi. "No signs of the tent cities disappearing anytime soon though. Especially since we all have to cram in here after the rally. It's going to be a madhouse."

"Oh my God. True." Jut commiserated.

They continued talking about the awful living conditions for non-hunters for a while. The conversation flowed easily until they showed their invitations to a staff member outside the appropriate hall for the Rally.

Usually, the casino had bands and solo artists perform concerts here. The tiered seats led down to a massive stage that only had a single microphone on it. The first few rows of seating had tables, which were already packed full of hunters.

Jut and Kit sat further back, near the aisle.

It was less than twenty minutes before every seat was filled and the lights dimmed. If one were to look at the crowd, they would see that a near majority of the room were former and active soldiers, police officers, or men and women who dressed like civilian hunters. It was clear who the majority were who had been brave enough to stand against the flood of new and strange beasts that had spawned since the initialization.

A group of secret service like men and women marched onto the stage with Adam Slatewell buried in the middle of them. They led him to the mic.

Adam tapped the mic a couple of times, testing it before he spoke. He used his usual announcement tone like when he was giving the Safe Zone updates over the P.A.

"Welcome. Hunter's of the Slatewell Safe Zone. Without further delay, let the first annual Hunter's Rally begin."