The corridor was dark and twisted, strewn with broken glass, splintered wood, and the stink of death. Orion moved at a slow pace, keeping his ears open for any sound other than his own. He now wore a black shirt with grey trousers and black sneakers, all of which he had stripped off a dead body.
After all, this was a hospital not a mall, where else would i find clothes this quick and, in the apocalypse no less?
Orion's inner monologue continued, easing the loneliness and tension in this somber atmosphere.
He crawled with baby steps afraid of making sounds louder than a whisper. The reason he was being this cautious was not because of other humans, no it was because he now knew more about the apocalypse.
After he had devoured the system, he had gotten all of its abilities along with its memory, and from its memory, he found out what the system and the apocalypse were.
He discovered the apocalypse was nothing personal, it was in reality a natural phenomenon, just the result of the universe evolving. Not something brought by the system, rather the system was a lifeline.
The system wasn't a sentient being, rather it was like a super AI only following its protocols. It was made by the will of the universe to better facilitate the evolution of its planets. Yes! Planets and not their living population, technically the faster the residents of a planet evolved the faster the planet evolved, and in return the faster the universe evolved.
Thus, the system was created to help the population of different planets evolve faster and better survive the Apocalypse.
The will of the universe also wasn't an emotional being, it was a cold entity, emotionless and fair, only moving to better evolve the universe.
He halted at a junction where the hall bent sharply left, listening. Every noise echoed louder in the silence—the tap of dripping water, the faint creak of shifting metal, and finally the slow, heavy breaths coming from somewhere deeper inside the ruined hospital.
He wasn't alone.
His instincts screamed at him, a warning from deep within his bones.
From the end of the hallway, something emerged.
Orion peeked from the corner, subtly making out a creature, bipedal in structure, its form slowly fitting in with the ones from his memory.
A grotesque creature 6 to 7 feet tall—its skin discolored, bloated with mana corruption. The bones in its arms had elongated unnaturally, claws dragging across the floor. Its head twitched violently, as if trying to locate him through some other sense.
It was a Mana mutant!
One of the most basic and numerous monsters in the Apocalypse. They were beings who couldn't withstand the erosion of the higher form of energy suddenly awakened on the planet and were instead corrupted by it.
Orion froze. His heart thudded loudly enough that he was sure the creature could hear it.
This was his first enemy.
He clenched his fists, his body tensing. Even though his body was filled with power, surpassing the limits of human beings, inside he was still a 21-year-old sheltered youth who had never thrown a punch in his life. Now suddenly faced with a life-or-death battle with such a monster no less, he was sure to lose his composure. As Orion was going through his inner turmoil the creature had already noticed him.
"SKREEEEEEEAAAAAARG"
It let out a wet, distorted shriek and charged, Orion panicked.
He turned and ran.
"Shit, shit, shit!" he gasped, diving behind an overturned filing cabinet. Metal shrieked as the mutant crashed into it, sending papers and dust spiraling. Adrenaline blotted out Orion's thoughts.
He had no weapons, no combat training—only raw power.
His instincts told him to fight, but his mind reeled in panic.
The mutant screeched and leaped over the dented cabinet.
Orion grabbed the broken leg of a metal chair and swung wildly.
Clang!
It hit the creature's shoulder but barely slowed it. The panicked swing not even containing half of his power. The thing tackled him, and they rolled into the wall with a crash.
Its claws slashed down.
Orion opened his mouth to scream but stopped as he realized something he hadn't before, with his back to the mutant.
It was slow. very slow… No, it isn't slow, he realized I'm fast.
This sudden realization, like an epiphany, calmed Orion down, his instincts taking over his body. He bent his knees and kicked it away, crawling backwards on the floor before standing up and taking a deep breath.
He could feel his instincts screaming at him to fight, telling him that he could easily win, that he was a predator now.
Orion grinned feeling a rush within him.
"Time for round 2 you bastard."
He whispered with newfound courage as his hand gripped the broken chair leg tightly.
The creature lunged again.
This time, Orion dodged low and slammed the chair leg into its gut. It shrieked, stumbling—vulnerable for a split second.
"Haha," Orion laughed. Now with his eyes opened and focused he could easily follow the mutant's movements, reading it like a book.
He lunged forward, slamming it again. And again.
"DIE!"
With one final, savage blow, he caved in the side of its skull, breaking his weapon in the process. The creature twitched, then fell still.
Orion dropped the weapon, panting heavily.
The silence returned.
[EXP + 35]
> [Predation Available – Devour Target? Y/N]
He didn't hesitate.
"Yes."
A ripple of energy surged through him as his hand touched the corpse. A dark shadow-like power encased the creature disintegrating it into shadowy threads that were pulled into his palm, within moments.
> [Predation – 100% Complete]
> [+4 Strength | +3 Agility | +3 Mana]
> [Skill Gained: Rush (Rank F)]
> [Ability Gained: Enhanced hearing (Rank F)]
> [Ability Gained: Corrupted Mana (Rank F)]
> [ Gained organic Energy: corrupted Mana +10, Bio energy +5 (Stored in Predation core)]
Orion stumbled back, his breath catching. The world blurred for a moment, then sharpened again, brighter than before. His limbs felt lighter. His muscles stronger. Even the energy he spent was coming back.
Orion exhaled and wiped cold sweat from his brow . "Rush and some other abilities … I'll check them out later…" he whispered, feeling the ability in his veins, as his eyes quickly scanned the floor, "dang! No drops" Orion muttered with regret.
Sometimes the killed enemies have a chance of dropping loot, weapons, skill books, etc., it's just an accumulation of the escaped energy given form by the system. But if the power difference is too great then the probability drops greatly.
Unfortunately, Orion had no time to feel down, he needed to get out of here asap. He was sure this wasn't the only mutant lurking around and he didn't want to be here to find out if the others were attracted by the sound.
Moreover, he needed rest.
Physically he was fine, but mentally he was exhausted, not having rested even a bit since the collapse.
"It really has been one thing after the other," He sighed as he dragged his tired self through the ruined hallway, stumbling and searching for a place to crash. Then, just ahead, he heard muffled voices—whispers behind a closed room.
"Survivors". Orion muttered in excitement; he was dying to talk to anyone other than himself.
But he remained cautious, Afterall humans usually meant trouble in the apocalypse.
He slowly approached and knocked on the door, but unfortunately, no one answered. Even the voices coming out before quieted down and if it wasn't for his superhuman hearing he might've believed the room to be empty.
"My name is Orion. "He introduced before adding "I lived at the hospital"
After a few seconds, the door slowly opened, revealing a storage room-turned-shelter. A group of four huddled inside—two teenagers, a middle-aged nurse, and a man in a bloodied security uniform. All looked up in shock as Orion entered, his clothes filled with blood.
"Wait—Don't move!" The guard raised a broken metal baton defensively.
"I'm human," Orion said, his voice hoarse but firm. "I just want a place to rest."
They stared at him, unsure.
The nurse stepped forward. "You're injured."
Orion shook his head "It's not my blood…" he answered without clarifying any further.
That earned him a spark of pity in the nurses' eyes and a hit of admiration from the guard.
Clearly, they both understood his words differently.
The guard lowered the weapon.
"Name's Ravi. You alone?"
"…Yeah," Orion replied after a pause.
"Alright. You can stay here for now. But no funny business."
Orion nodded again and slowly lowered himself onto a stack of blankets. The others shifted to make room.
He finally exhaled, exhaustion blooming across his head now that he had laid down in a locked room.
The younger boy handed him a canteen. "You must be hungry, here have some."
Orion looked at the canteen in the boy's hand, complicated emotion flashing across his eyes.
Hunger… huh.
"Thank you but I'm not hungry just tired" Orion said with a tired, forced smile before closing his eyes hoping the boy would take the hint and stop talking to him.
He still wasn't quite ready to eat after the last meal he had.
The group settled. Quite returned.
For now, it was safe.
As he lay there, eyes closed, Orion thought of the auditorium—the separate structure on the far side of the hospital compound. Larger, sturdier, probably less damaged.
"We need to move there," he murmured, to himself half asleep.
He had survived his first fight. Clumsy, terrified, unprepared—but alive.
"This is only the beginning," he thought before completely falling asleep.