System Breaker: Surviving Apocalypse with Nine-Tailed Kitsune-Chapter 28: Dark Sorcerer
Damon blinked a couple of times as he stared at the series of new notifications.
’My class has evolved?’
The words caught him off guard. He didn’t waste a second guessing what that meant, and instead, he summoned his status screen once more.
***
[Name: Damon]
[Level: 18]
[Race: Human]
[Class: Error-!]
[Attributes: System Breaker, Dark Evolution (Dark Sorcerer)] 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶
[Classes (2/2): Divine Beast Tamer(Active), Dark Sorcerer]
[Abilities: Black Ice Manipulation (Dark Sorcerer), Absolute Comprehension]
[Stats:
— Strength: 35 (with [Nameless Tachi] equipped)
— Dexterity: 25
— Vitality: 39
— Stamina: 25
— Mana: 28 (Available: 14)
— Luck: 1]
[Stat Points Available: 0]
***
Damon’s eyes trailed across the new class name before snapping straight toward a new line inside his abilities. The moment his eyes focused on the new text, a new window with a description appeared before him.
[Ability: Absolute Comprehension]
[Type: Passive]
[Description: You can comprehend anything at an unnatural speed.]
Staring at the small description, his excitement quickly died out.
’I can... comprehend faster?’
He frowned at the words. He expected some combat ability, one that would either increase his strength or defenses, and instead he received a passive ability that didn’t seem particularly special.
Closing the description window, his eyes trailed back to the screen status. At least, looking at his raised stats, he did feel a bit of satisfaction. Then, just as he was about to close his status screen, he noticed that his new ability, unlike Black Ice Manipulation, wasn’t linked to a class.
’It probably doesn’t make a difference,’ He told himself before finally closing the status window.
Around him, both Victor and Ivy were deep asleep.
For a moment, Damon began to question why Kitsune was so unusually quiet, not making any comments or suggestions after his class evolved, but to his surprise, she was already asleep.
’Wasn’t she just awake? She’s a light sleeper, huh...’
His thoughts, however, were cut short as a sudden scuffle to his left stole his attention away.
"Huh? Where am... How long was I asleep?" Ivy asked as she jumped to her feet, disoriented from her sleep still lingering in her words.
"Not long. I’m taking the first watch so you can rest some more." Damon replied, raising a brow at her sudden unease.
She lingered for a moment, looking around the dark grocery store.
It was the middle of the night, and other than the faint moonlight coming through the store’s large windows, there was no source of light.
Luckily, thanks to mana, their bodies as well as their vision were enhanced. Despite the darkness, each of them, even Victor, could still make out the shapes around them.
It took a couple of seconds until Ivy realised she was safe and lowered herself back down.
She sat in silence for a couple of moments, her arms wrapped around her knees, until she finally spoke, her voice nothing more than a whisper.
"My family’s dead..."
Damon figured as much, so there was no surprise on his face as she said those words. What followed, however, was a different story.
"They weren’t killed by monsters..." Her arms tightened around her knees.
She took a moment of pause, swallowing hard before continuing, "When I got home... the door was already open. My father was lying in the hallway. I almost stepped on him before I realised..." Her voice cracked as she said it, "...he wasn’t breathing."
As Damon turned toward Ivy, he saw her pull something out of her pocket. For a moment, he couldn’t tell what it was.
Then the moonlight caught it.
It was a necklace with a pendant which was covered in blood.
Her hands trembled as she held the pendant to her face. "She was lying there, dead, while they were laughing and looting our kitchen..."
Ivy’s breath grew more ragged with each moment. She opened her mouth to speak two more times, but her words were cut short as faint sobs escaped her lips.
Noticing how she became distant and cold after their reunion, Damon had expected that something bad might’ve happened, but to think that her family got not only killed but slaughtered by fellow humans...
It was a cruel realisation, one that made a shiver run down his spine, as this was the reality of the world they now lived in.
But with that, Damon realised one more thing as he suddenly remembered about the hostility Ivy and Casper had to each other, they were basically trying to kill one another on sight.
’Could it be... was he one of those people?’
As if she could read his mind, Ivy spoke again.
"I killed two of them..." Her tone was different now, not filled with sorrow but hatred, "...but the rest escaped. I won’t stop until I get every one of them."
"Then, we’ll find them. Tomorrow, let’s go to the Central Station. I’ll ask Kade to help us."
"Kade? The best friend you were looking for?" Ivy asked, remembering Damon had mentioned him before.
"Yeah, I managed to find him. He’s leading the survivors at the Central Station..."
Damon paused for a moment, remembering the awkward feeling he had while meeting his best friend ever since the apocalypse began. "... he seemed to have changed quite a bit... probably because of all the responsibilities and stuff, but I’m sure he’ll help."
The girl nodded before turning her back toward him. She lay down again, clutching the blood-stained pendant in her hands.
"Thank you," she whispered so quietly that he had no chance to hear it.
