Chapter 196 - Brother (2/2)

”Here I am.” Proclaimed Wain was approaching the ledge and looking at the southern part of the city.

Overion was partly a tourist town because of its special location. Overion was technically an island that was not far from the mainland. Overion was separated from the other cities and territories by a fairly narrow strait only a few hundred meters long.

The eastern part had partial access to the sea, while the entire coast of the southern part of the island was open.

It was the main tourist center of Overion. There were many skyscrapers, hotels, and different attractions.

However, all this was near the beach, which occupied about 30% of the southern part. In the rest of the south were the usual houses and districts, and there was also a small military base of the city created for emergencies.

'I wonder, when the apocalypse began, how useful was the military base and soldiers? They had the best equipment and machinery with high firepower. That's more than enough to take out the zombie and mutated insect mobs.' Thought Wain and jumped down.

After a minute, he reached the bottom of the canyon and ran forward. Every time Wain went down to the bottom of the canyon, he found something interesting. This time he decided to move exclusively toward his goal.

Wain realized that he would not have time to evolve a second time before the island emerged. Even if he reached level thirtieth right now, he wouldn't risk trying to do it.

He didn't know how long it would take. Maybe the process would be faster this time, but probably a lot longer. Wain didn't want to risk it.

He was sure his powers were enough to handle almost any enemy in the human world.

Crackling.

Wain climbed up the ledges like a rock climber and pondered the current situation.

'Hmm, perhaps only someone with a Legendary Soul and a Seal of Darkness could compete with me. Though, I'm not sure anyone but me could reach such a level so quickly in the World of Darkness.'

Whoooosh.

Wain made one last dash and was on top. He looked around and saw a familiar sight, dozens of ruined buildings, broken streets, dried blood on the roads, and hundreds of scattered things. It was the face of chaos and panic.

Click.

He pulled out his compass and determined his direction. He needed to go left. Wain decided first to find the last part of the map and then go for the Faceless Aristocrat Mask.

Wain was sure that he would have to go through an even tougher challenge to get the fourth form, and he wanted to be fully prepared for it.

Wain thought that the third part of the map might be in Dungeon, which meant he could get good equipment there.

Also, Wain wanted to get used to Forgotten Monarch's Sword. He had never used this sword in combat before.

'Hmm, I wonder what organization runs the south? How strong are they? The south is the main tourist center of Overion, so when the apocalypse began, there were many people here, more than anywhere else. Theoretically, there should be many strong people with unique souls.' Wain pondered, looking at the skyscrapers in the distance.

The tallest buildings were near the beach, and the farther away from it, the lower the houses were.

A few kilometers away from the tourist center, there were disadvantaged areas where it was hard to survive before the apocalypse. These were the slums.

These places were never shown to tourists, and no one but the locals came here. In fact, it was typical for a city full of skyscrapers to have slums, ruin, and poverty underneath.

Since such areas were unflattering, people have pushed aside and tried to hide them to avoid spoiling the city's image and losing profits.

”It seems unlike other parts of the city in the south, the situation is unusual...” Mumbled Wain looking at the massive walls in the distance.

They were made of trash, scrap metal, pieces of stone, and various planks.

The wall was high and quite large. Despite the bad materials, it would be difficult for monsters to get through them.

When Wain saw the wall, he realized that there was no one leader in the south like in other places. There were two main organizations.

One was located in the disadvantaged neighborhoods or slums, and the other was among the skyscrapers near the beach.

Of course, the tourist district was in an advantageous position. There was more food in the tourist district, and the skyscrapers were a pretty safe haven. People could hide there and think about surviving.

Zombies couldn't get into such places, and neither could weak insects. Also, in the tourist district, there were a lot of stores, which meant a large variety of equipment with which to resist monsters.

In the slums, the situation was many times worse. There, people had to fight not only with monsters but also with each other for food and water.

'Eh... An apocalypse is a terrible event for everyone, but instead of people coming together to solve a common problem, the situation only worsened.

I'm sure people are killing, betraying, and robbing each other every day in these places. In fact, this place makes me feel a little nostalgic...' Wain thought, looking at the dirty streets of the slums.

In such a place, Wain spent the first years of his life. His life, like that of most people, was not easy.

He had to go through many hardships and horrors even to come close to such a concept as 'normal life.' It was an ordeal in which hundreds died.

Wain knew better than anyone how hard it was to survive in such places and how ruthless people lived here. He had experienced firsthand all the pain and bitterness of betrayal and betrayal.

”The road to the top is really hard... Many people are jealous of the rich and famous and want to be in their shoes. However, these people don't want to take the same path to achieve their goals. They don't even think about what many have gone through to be where they are...” Wain muttered, looking out at the horizon.

Wain knew that to gain power. Someone first had to go through pain and suffering, forging one's thorny path.

It seemed too cruel to him because now he was glad it had all happened to him. Otherwise, he would not have become who he was. However, Wain realized that he would never have wanted to walk his old path again.

It showed how high the price for the power was.. Wain didn't know if it was worth it or if he would have the strength to go through it again without knowing the end result.