Vengeance Without Duty

*remnant mana detected, absorbing, please allocate to strengthen d.e.s.i.r.ed facet*

"Allocate to mana pool."

*monster core detected, absorbing energy, gained 10,000 points*

Staring at the Twin-Tailed panther laying dead in front of me, I let out a long, tired breath. Over the last month, the world did truly change.

The area around the camp became greener and the trees grew nearly triple in size. Strange plants started sprouting up all around the forest, carrying strange fruits. Changes in animals were not so obvious at first, most only grower faster or stronger, now, the starter growing in size and a rare few even grew extra appendages, like the panther before me.

Our original group of 50 people, nearly doubled, mainly from people we found in town, hiding somewhere, the last few, showed up at our gates, searching for a place to stay. Now, 90% of us have been baptized. The only people that have yet to be baptized are the children.

"Show available points."

*available points: 1,052,500.*

"Show abilities"

*abilities: Reanimate - Lv. 3, Curse of Fatigue - Lv. 6, Buff - Lv. 5, Eternal Army - Lv. N/A, Boone of Regeneration - Lv. 2, Life Steal - Lv. 1, Summon Wraith - Lv.5*

Staring at my abilities, I felt proud and disappointed.

Before making my way back to the camp,I reanimated the corpse of the panther.

On the way I pondered on life, what awaits us, what will we do to survive.

P.O.V - Marie

Kaiden's been pushing himself far to hard lately, and I can't help but feel responsible. Because of my class, I have almost no use in the hunting or search parties, so my days are normally spent in our makeshift infirmary, healing the injured or helping the sick by making medicine fro them.

Our infirmary is also somewhat lacking, as most people went for combat classes. Only five people, including me, chose spiritualist.

Because of his constant hunting, Kaiden grew to be our strongest member, while Joshua and Claire shared second place. Because there's no status menu, the only way to compare strength, is through combat. This caused a few problems, but because of him being the strongest, everyone listens to Kaiden, to some degree.

P.O.V - Kaiden

Walking to the back of the cafeteria, where we had made a makeshift freezer, courtesy of our elementalists, I ordered the panther to walk inside, then cancelled Reanimate.

Walking into the kitchen, I went and told the head cook about the panther in the freezer.

Opening the door to my cabin, I heard the shower running. Walking to the bathroom door, i opened the door and saw Marie's clothes on the floor.

Walking into the living room I sat down on the couch, tilted my head back and closed my eyes.

"...aiden, wake up."

Jolting awake, I quickly sat up, ready to attack at any moment.

"Kaiden, it's alright, it's just me."

Hearing Marie's voice, I slumped back in the couch, rubbing the corners of eyes.

"How long did I sleep for?"

"You've been asleep for 2 hours. I came to wake you up, because there's an emergency."

Letting out a sigh, I get up and ask Marie to show the way.

Getting to the mess hall, I saw a group of people crowding around something. Pushing my way to the center, I saw three people tied up, one woman, a small girl, maybe 11 or 12 years old and a boy the same age.

"What's going on here."

"We caught the woman trying to steal supplies from the storage shed, and these two were hiding in the forest not far away." A voice drifted in from side.

Staring at the woman, I noticed that she was looking at the boy and girl, concern in her eyes.

"Are they your children?"

Quickly the woman's face turned pale.

"I'll do anything, just please don't bring them harm!"

Listening to her voice tremble, I couldn't help but pity her."

"Why were you trying to steal from us, why didn't you just ask someone here for help?"

Seeing the hesitation in her eyes, I assured her that no one will be harmed.

"We came from a town ruled by a man named Moriarty. He discovered something in town that gave him special powers. After having gained his powers, he monopolized it, only allowing his goons to use it to gain powers. I escaped with my children, because Moriarty and his goons, take everything for themselves."

"How long ago did this start?"

"A few days ago."

Slowly letting out a sigh, I contemplate on what to do next.

"Untie the children. Marie take them to our cabin, and get them something to eat and drink, please. Also organize a place for them to stay."

Watching Marie leave with the children, the woman grew anxious. After they turned a corner I untied the woman.

"Follow me. Everyone, if something like this happens again, just take the perpetrator to my cabin. Thank you."

Slowly walking to the parking lot, the woman trailed a few steps behind me.

"Are you the leader here?"

"No."

Walking to my car I open the passenger side door, motioning for the woman to get in. after closing the door, I got in the driver seat and drove towards the gate.

"Where are you taking me?"

She asked, fear evident in her voice.

"Do you want to stay here?"

Surprised by my question, she meekly nodded her head.

"Good, I'm taking you to get baptized."

As I drove on, she bombarded me with question, only stopping when she realized that I would not answer.

Standing in front of the monolith, now overgrown with vines, I instructed the woman to place her hand on the monolith's service. Seeing her not moving, I grab her hand and forcefully press her hand against the monolith.

Appearing before me again, the woman's face showed only awe.

"Now that your part of our group, my name is Kaiden. What's yours?"

Staring at me for a minute, she answered.

"I'm Lily."