System Fall

A pang of guilt tugged at my conscience as I reached the midway point on the bridge heading towards the next rooftop. Pausing, I glanced back at the group I'd left behind, their figures now distant but still not so distant I couldn’t see them. Even at a distance, I could tell they were struggling.

Lydia, as ever, taking the helm and barking out orders, trying to marshal the group through to the next obstacle.

Seeing their faces, a realization hit me hard. I wasn't okay with leaving them to their fates. Despite my better judgment and self-preservation instincts, I found myself retracing my steps, moving back towards the danger I'd just overcome.

"I can survive alone, sure," I muttered under my breath, my gaze lingering on the retreating forms of the group. "But it doesn't mean I want to see any of them fall." My own words echoed in my ears. I corrected myself. “Most of them.”

Navigating back through the garden rooftop, I opted to keep close to the edge of the building, walking along the raised outer perimeter wall. It was a faster route without any extra obstacles.

Despite the gravity of the situation, they didn’t turn me away when I approached. Kenney and Lydia were had started urging the others to move. "Go, go, go, get across!" they echoed each other, their voices filled with a fear-induced urgency. I was the only one already on the other side, the precarious bridge being the only thing connecting me with the rest.

From my position, I could see the integrity of the building visibly deteriorating. This wasn't a struggle against monstrous vines or nefarious flora. This was a battle against time and gravity, and we were on the losing side.

Kenney caught my eye from across the gap, a brief pause in his exhortations. "I know we don't see eye to eye," he called out, his voice strained, "But thanks for coming back. I'll try to make sure you get through this in one piece. Remember, it's okay to retreat if things get too tough sometimes."

His words hung in the air. I couldn't help but stifle a small smile. Kenney thought I had returned because I felt overwhelmed, that I needed their aid for survival. He misunderstood my motivations, but it didn't matter. What mattered was that we all got off the rooftop alive, and kept doing exactly that.

Having ensured the safety of the others and that they’d all went over first, I started over the bridge without a second look. I didn’t have as much time and didn’t take it as gently. The bridge creaked under my weight as I sprinted across, my hand gripping the guide rope for balance. My breathing matched with the echoing rattle of the old wooden planks under my feet.

As I neared the other side, the heard the sound of wings and the sound of battle. . The group I had just rejoined was already fighting. Everywhere I saw Rooftop Wasps. They were swarming in a frenzied cloud, dived and swooped at the group.

Lydia, her voice strained, was shouting orders amidst the buzzing melee. "Spread out! Don't bunch together! They'll pick us off easier!"

 

Her warning rang clear amidst the chaos. I frowned, studying her from the corner of my eye as I rushed in to join the fight. Was she genuinely concerned for the group or just using them as bait to lure in the wasps while she racked up kills? Either way, I was now in this, too.

With a determined look, I dove into the fray, wielding Legender in a quick series of attacks against the wasps that dared to swoop my way. While I questioned Lydia's motives, for now, it seemed we were on the same team. And that meant fighting alongside her against the wasp onslaught.

In the midst of the turmoil was Kenney, frantically fending off the relentless insects with his sturdy sledgehammer. Despite the power behind his swings, the wasps' armored exoskeletons held steadfast, merely rattling under his strikes.

Lydia, dual daggers in her grasp, including Last Kiss, was showing off some of the skills she possessed. She spun and leapt, her blades slicing through the air in a desperate bid to fend off her assailants. Yet, despite her best efforts, I could see she was merely delaying the inevitable.

Out of our team of eight, only four of us were engaged in combat. Our Healer, along with two young, silent girls, stood aloof from the melee. Lydia's glances in their direction held an ominous promise. Kenney, meanwhile, continued his assault, his sledgehammer crushing one wasp and batting it into another, only to incite a renewed wave of aggression from the swarm.

As the swarm buzzed ominously around us, a fierce resolve took hold of me. This was the moment I'd been training for, the moment my blade would shine. Drawing my sword, I stepped into the fray with a swift, fluid motion, slicing through two of the monstrous insects in one fell swoop. Their segmented bodies fell to the rooftop, split apart by my blade.

"Apologies for the intrusion, I’m sure you already know this," I announced with a casual air as I moved deeper into the chaos, wasp ichor misting off my blade. "But you might want to check your ankle." My actions and words had drawn the swarm's attention, and they redirected their fury towards me.

Heeding my advice, Kenney glanced down to see a venomous stinger lodged in his flesh. The heat of battle had dulled his senses to the pain, but the sooner the wound was treated, the better. Kenney possessed a [Poison Resistance] skill, effectively neutralizing any potential toxins, but the physical damage needed attention.

"Healer, I could use a hand over here," Kenney called out, a grimace contorting his face as he gestured towards his injury. "This looks like it might need some of your Body-Stitching."

The Healer's response was a flat, "I can examine it...for a price."

My grip tightened on my sword as a rush of anger flared within me. This young Healer, who had remained idle throughout our desperate fight, had the audacity to demand payment for aiding those risking their lives on his behalf. The audacity was astounding. This was not a game; this was our survival.

"What on earth is going on?" I muttered to myself; my voice barely audible above the drone of the wasps.

Kenney's attention shifted from his predicament with the Healer to my battle. I ran and jumped off a crate to get at a Rooftop Wasp that was just out of reach. It got more than just the one I was aiming for. My sword whistled as it cut through three hornets before they could reach me.

"Strong."

 

 Even amid his own resuming battle struggle, Kenney found himself begrudgingly agreeing.

 

I focused on my own battle, keeping ahead of every new attack by the monsters as I tried to navigate and take down the hostile swarm that spread out over the Manhattan skyline. My every move reflecting my decades of experience as a swordsman. My weapon, the Legender, whirled between the airborne creatures, striking through limbs, trimming wings, and often severing heads. The fallen bodies accumulated around me, and though my actions portrayed a deceptive ease, I was pushed to my boundaries.

From what I could see, the Rooftop Wasps more closely resembled honeybees than bald-faced hornets, but my knowledge on the subject was sparse. I smiled as more of them came against me.

"I have to take down the swarm." I looked around to get to higher ground and started grabbing onto steel wires, pipes, and beams. I climbed up a water tower before propelling off the steel to engage them mid-air.

Under normal circumstances, this would be deemed a reckless move, forsaking the stability of the ground to leap into the air where gravity was the unchallenged ruler. But with the [Eyes of Legacy], I had a completely new way to fight, and it opened up the battlefield.

Just prior to launching myself skyward, I could capture a panoramic view of my surroundings, calculating the possible trajectories each insect might follow, and then I would leap, positioning myself where I could inflict maximum damage and then push off to attack the next.

'Damn it,' I muttered. My sense of triumph was short-lived. The Rooftop Wasps shifted tactics. They fired their stingers. Reacting instinctively, I activated the bald-faced hornets, observing the orange, needle-like projectiles enveloped in a red mist as they tracked me. 'How are these things utilizing Mana?!'

Shifting my focus, I swung my sword to intercept the incoming projectiles, transforming my offensive abilities with the blade into a shield. I touched down, panting heavily, sweat dripping down my face onto the asphalt.

"What is going on?" I muttered, feeling confused.

Mana-using enemies were not supposed to appear until System Fall's second phase. But that low tier of magic use was clear. It was one thing for a creature to mutate into a monstrosity due to Mana exposure and density from an uncleared zone, but entirely another for it to begin integrating Mana into its offense or defensive abilities.

Mana, in its raw form, existed on a spectrum. Depending on its intensity, it manifested the colors of the visible spectrum, beginning with red and culminating in violet. In my previous experience, I had been led to believe that more was possible after violet, but no one was able to achieve that. It was rumored that to break through limits, one had to reach the Prismatic Spectrum. That was my goal.

"You heard me," the Healer responded, an insidious smirk gracing his lips. "It'll cost you. Some Strength or Agility points upfront. Offer a Pure Point, and I'll use my skill twice for you. Once now, and once later, when you'll likely need it again."

It was clear as day; the Healer was commodifying his skills, trading them for the invaluable currency of points in this twisted new reality we were trapped in.

This put Kenney in a tight spot. Picking a fight with the Healer could cost him any future aid. Should the Healer's skills level up into something more potent, the loss of that resource would be dire. I'd seen it before in my previous life, where a simple healer evolved a rudimentary pain-relief skill into a powerful restorative slumber, healing almost any affliction.

But this Healer was different. He lacked any semblance of goodwill. The expectation gleaming in his eyes was almost sadistic, unnerving Kenney. My Eyes of Legacy affirmed my suspicion; this Healer was an adversary in the making.

Yet, there was a battle to be won, and I couldn't afford to be distracted. The swarm of Rooftop Wasps were attempting to engulf me. I growled under my breath, baffled at why they weren't attacking the others. Then realization dawned on me. They saw me as the prime threat.

Shrugging off the sting of their venomous assaults, I continued my onslaught on the swarm, inadvertently providing Kenney, Lydia, and the others a reprieve from the relentless attack.

"Wow," Lydia breathed out, her voice carrying over the winds as she took down a wasp of her own. "That Nick is stronger than I thought he was."