Alright, there was always a chance, I would get caught or spotted by the enemy on this little trip of mine, but I didn’t really plan for it to be like something out a movie scene.

  Especially not by what looked to be a special type of red person.

  I had no idea if they were actually stronger than the rest of its brethren or not, but I didn’t want to stay and find out.

  Throwing all caution to the wind, I turned back the way I came and began beating feet back towards the compound.

  That’s a saying I haven’t heard in a while but it was perfect to describe how I felt at this very moment.

  My arms were pumping hard even while holding a sword in my hand and my very first Trait was showing its use once more as I covered ground quickly and efficiently.

  Even amidst the destruction and wreckage around me, none of it stopped me from getting to where I wanted to get to.

  BOOM!!

  I almost stumbled into what would’ve been a legendary faceplant because of the loud explosion that just sounded behind me.

  Debris of whatever exploded hit me in the back even as I managed to steady my steps from my stumble.

  Shit!

  Shit shit shit shit shit!

  I cursed continuously as I ran, jumped, ducked, slid, and anything else I had to do get away from the problems chasing me down right now.

  Then it hit me.

  Leading them towards my home would be a bad idea, and that’s exactly what I was doing right now.

  Thinking back to last night, we were able to fight of a large number of them without any deaths thankfully, but none of them looked like the one in black armor.

  What if it was leagues and magnitudes above the rest and strong enough to fight off the entire family on its own in direct combat? What the hell would we do then?

  I needed to lose them now.

  …Alright Freddy, time to make shit happen!

  And If I was going to make shit happen, I would need to take some risks.

  First thing’s first…let’s test out this mana pool of mine.

  Surging step!

  Turning towards the east and away from the direction that led to the compound, I activated my one movement skill and dashed in that direction quicker than ever.

  The distance I traveled was probably around 15 feet, which wasn’t all that far, especially when being chased, but it was a distance I crossed faster than if I just ran instead of activating the skill.

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  But that wasn’t even why I did it.

  Before my second Trait, I could only activate my skills once before I would need to take time to gather that mysterious energy that I assumed to be mana.

  I wanted to confirm a suspicion I had since receiving my new mana pool.

  And after taking one look to see if I was right or not…I grinned.

  My mana counter read 45/50.

  That means to cast Surging Step, it only required 5 mana.

  And that wasn’t even counting my reserve pool of mana that now sat at a smooth 3. It wasn’t much but it was going up and that’s all that mattered.

  BOOM!!!!!

  Dammit! Alright!

  I know what to do!

  Let’s see how bad you wanted to kill me you big red dog looking bastards!

  That might’ve been a cheesy joke, but I didn’t care. Turning my steps towards one of the many new lakes I saw, I did a few things.

  First I still had 21 unspent stat points. 10 of them were immediately dumped into Endurance, another 5 into Strength, and the last 6 into Mana.

  I never wanted to experience this burning sensation again, but I don’t think this was time to worry about it all that much.

  Enduring the pain from the heat, I felt the changes in my body almost instantly.

  The power I could now output got improved and so too did my speed, and after taking another peak at my status, I saw that my mana now read 80/80.

  Great!

  Alright come on bastards! Let’s go for a fucking swim!

  I didn’t waste time sight seeing at the lake I reached, even though it truly was a sight to take in, as debris from buildings and even cars floated within.

  Diving in immediately and activating a few Surging Steps I covered a lot of ground, or should I say water? I don’t know but I was practically like a penguin shot out of a cannon as I surged forward underneath the surface of the water.

  After stopping and turning to see what the situation was, I realized that no one dove in after me.

  They could still be lingering around.

  Let’s just wait down here for as long as possible.

  Time passed and after waiting for as long as my lungs would allow me to, I swam back up to the surface and just poked my head out slightly.

  I couldn’t see any red people.

  Hm.

  I guess maybe they really didn’t like water?

  It’s weird they didn’t chase after me, but it wasn’t like I was complaining.

  I waited a bit longer and turned around in the water to survey every direction around me to make sure they weren’t hiding somewhere else and waiting for me to get out.

  Once all that was verified, I made my way to the opposite bank, around all the floating debris. There were even a few bodies I did my best to look away from.

  From there, I took a second to catch my breath while maintaining my guard and caution of the surrounding area.

  Alright, I think I’m good for now.

  Looking up in the sky to see the position of the sun, I should still have some time before dad would come looking for me.

  Let’s make the most of it.

  …

  By the time I finally made it back home, my mind was burdened with worry.

  Turns out there were multiple camps in the town now, easily 10 of them at least. Every single one of them then had dozens of red people, and at least one red person in black armor similar to the first one I ran into.

  And that was just in the area near the beach.

  It wasn’t like I scouted the entire county.

  There could be hundreds, if not thousands of them spread across the coastline. They were here to stay, and they were building camps to prove it.

  What I couldn’t figure out was where they are coming from in the first place. Like I knew about the giant birds, but even they had to come from somewhere. Despite knowing that, I couldn’t find any signs of them ‘arriving’ to the area.

  It was like they simply appeared.

  Whatever it was, the situation was bleak.

  I had no idea how we were planning on making a run to get groceries now. Even if I didn’t take into account that a couple of the grocery stores I saw around the area were now rubble, there was still the problem of those camps, and the black armor ones.

  Honestly I was worried about how I was going to deliver the bad news, but upon getting home I came just in time to see that most of the adults in the family were outside, armed as best as they could be, and having a big discussion.

  Oh were they planning to come to find me?

  “Guys I’m back, no need for the search party.”

  My Grandpa looked over.

  “Good job, come here, we’re going to need you for something. Ah...first go tell your mother you made it back then come back here.”

  Huh…

  Doesn’t seem like they were gathering to come find me at all.