Lieutenant Pike swapped out his black shirt with the SWAT label and replaced it with full on tactical gear. His chest and torso were covered by a dark armor of Kevlar and his legs were protected with a set of hard leather like pads. Resting at his feet beside him was a large war hammer-the one that Huey and his cohort had brought back with them from their earlier expedition.
"Move! Move! Move! We have about ten minutes before the tide of beasts are upon us and then we're all goners" his voice was loud but it did the job.
The cluster of people who before the apocalypse had probably never even thought about carrrying a gun were suddenly finding themselves gearing up and getting ready for what could only be considered a war against the mutated beasts from the Woodlands Forest.
Everyone was tense and for good reason too. Not too long ago there had been a small earth quake that appeared seemingly out of nowhere and then, a few moments later an army of beasts was about to attack? Of course they would be tense but they had to push through either way.
Because if they didn't then who would?
The armed militia of the group was moved frantically, they packed their weapons, each receiving three spare magazines. Many of them had shaking hands as they went through the motions.
Most of them might not have been experienced with guns but ever since the camp had been established, they had been getting training five times a week. Granted, that didn't mean that they were suddenly professionals when it came to handling guns and combat, but it did give them a somewhat decent starting point.
Still, the fear that this might be their last day was creeping at the edges of their minds.
They were currently at the gym loading up. The armed militia were packing their guns and were each given three extra magazines for spare rounds. The evolvers were getting their fair share of weapons too. Those who already had weapon treasures from the Spirit Record and felt that they had enough. For those that didn't have them they were given military grade knives as well as handguns for extra measure.
Thorne watched it all from the distance. The tall slender man was still wearing his framed glasses but his usual brown suit was replaced by police uniform as well as a bullet proof vest. Holsted at his hips were a pair of batons with sharpened and pointed ends.
'I really hope that the training Lieutenant Pike's training really paid off'
The man in question could be spotted a short distance away giving orders to the militia men who were mostly made up of normal people who hadn't even started evolving at all. The militia might not have been as powerful as the Evolvers but their number far succeeded the Evolvers and their roles were no less important than the others in the upcoming battle.
…
I studied the green letters that floated in front of my retina for what felt like an eternity. Everything else around me suddenly felt muted and dim.
[Earth's evolution has begun. Your world is becoming a Second Stage World
Evolution progress: 1%]
The earth was evolving to the next stage but…
'Didn't the book say that it took a decade on average for a world to evolve?! What the hell is this?'
Evolution already? The spirit record had barely arrived on planet Earth and yet it was already in the process of becoming a Second Stage World!
The [Beginner's Manual] had explained quite a few things about the Spirit Record and how it affects worlds and its organisms by pushing them to evolve further. Worlds evolved too and the stages they went through were no different from the seven stages that living organisms experienced, the only difference was just in the naming of the several stages and what it entailed.
When the Spirit Record first arrives and affects a world, it merely awakens the mana that was already existent on that world…it was only idle-asleep or inactive-thus pushing the world to become a First Stage World. Thats when things change.
Living organisms are affected by the mana. Some are able to adapt and can work their way up to the top of the power scale with the help of the Spirit Record, while those that don't end up either becoming mutated creatures- or they become ravids as is the case humans-full of nothing but aggression and an irredeemable thirst for souls.
When a world is evolving to a Second Stage World however…its very laws are affected too. Gravity becomes heavier, space becomes sturdier, its mana becomes denser and purer…and mutated creatures and ravids? They become crazed with insatiable bloodlust for the entirety of the evolution process.
In other words, things were about to get ugly and fast. So we had to act just as fast too.
I stood and said in a dire tone:
"Everyone gear up and get ready…we might be in for a huge battle soon!"
Everyone froze and looked at me for a moment, confusion evident in their gazes. It prompted me to raise and eyebrow and look at them quizzically. Soon another doubt creeped up to me.
"Didn't you guys see the Spirit Record's latest message?" I couldn't help but ask.
Jordan shook his head and said:
"I didn't see anything…no message. Nothing"
Again I was surprised. How could this be possible?
'Strange…What could possibly be the reason? Now that I think of it when I first saw the Spirit Record it stated something about my privileged trial ending and that everyone could now check their stats.'
Was there something special about me perhaps? Could it also be related to why Charlotte had turned into her demonic form and attacked me back then?
'Urgh…' I could almost internally groan. So many questions and yet so little answers.
I looked towards the others and they just shook their heads in response.
How could I receive a message that the others didn't? Was the Spirit Record glitching…or was it hacked somehow…could it even be hacked?
'I'll think about that later'
"Either way we have to move. Earth is evolving and when that happens shit is supposed to hit the fan in one way or another" I was already moving, heading for my room upstairs.
"Well you heard the man" Jordan said behind me as he set his mother to sit on the couch and told her to wait for a moment. Then he too took to the stairs to get himself ready.
The others followed suit. They didn't know what exactly would happen but they could only guess that it was something to do with the earthquake just now…and the Earth evolving?
Either way they had to move since their de facto leader seemed to be on edge for some reason. Lydia and the girls went out the front door and headed back to their house while the boys followed Jordan and Huey's example and headed up the stairs to get as ready as they could.
I was already wearing the [Full Coat] so what I needed to do wasn't much really. I reached the door to my room and entered with ease. There on my bed lay my rare grade [Aranian combat gloves] right beside my trusted weapon, [Black salamander]
The sword hummed into my soul as though sensing my anxiety. It soothed me somewhat and I couldn't help the smile that tugged at the corner of my lips. I approached the edge of the bed and reached out my hand.
Donning the gloves, they felt slightly warmer against my skin, they barely weighed anything at all and yet I felt the overall stat increase that they were induced in full, a +30 stat boost wasn't a joke after all. Then I grabbed the hilt of the dark blade glistening slightly in the light.
I felt its weight in my hand and inspected the blade for a moment. It had a long obsidian blade segmented along its several parts but still managed to hold firm and straight like a normal straightedged sword. I still don't know what the segmentations were for but today wasn't the day to worry about things like that.
I attached the sword to my hip and a thought couldn't help but enter the surface of my mind.
'I'll need to find a sheath for this guy in the future'
I looked down on myself and felt ready and complete. Then I made my way back down stairs, where I found Jordan and the rest of the boys talking to someone who hadn't been there a few moments before.
Arina…the teleporter…
She looked the same as she had a few days ago. Her ebony hair was still loose and her figure was still hugged in tight leather pants…made me wonder if she even took them off…her crop shirt still exposed her toned midriff and she still carried with her an aura of seriousness.
She looked up at me and nodded before speaking in an even tone:
"Good you're ready. This makes things easier then…" she said and came closer to me, then she held up her hand and said: "…come with me the mayor wants to see you"
I raised an eyebrow.
"What going on?"
"We're about to be attacked by a horde of mutated beasts and we have less than twenty minutes to get ready"
'Shit…what would a certain character say in this situation…damnation?'
…