Alaric stepped out of the tower and the fresh breeze of air hit his face—the warm winds of summer caressing his rugged face easing it from the years he spent in the tower. His eyes stared at the sky, having long forgotten how it looked, the dancing clouds painted the cerulean heavens and the sun smiled on the earth and him.
"I'm back!"
The situation in Seoul suddenly registered to him. The once vibrant city was nothing but ruins, the skyscrapers all had decayed, fallen down and on the streets laid human remains from civilians and hunters alike. Alaric remembered how the government issued an evacuation order when the Tower Of Disaster happened—and there was no soul in Seoul.
Or so he thought.
[Area scan complete — Multiple monsters detected]
[One human life form detected]
The digital panel of the system he had acquired when he received a second chance at life popped up in his line of sight startling Alaric who had almost forgotten it existed—his lips thinned as he read the notification from the system, monsters from the Tower were still calling Seoul home? But what was more concerning was the life form present in the city.
"Where is it?"
[South of the shopping district]
Alaric nodded and shot off toward the direction the system had indicated partially startled that his speed was higher than it was when he was still in the tower.
[ SOUTH OF THE SHOPPING DISTRICT]
Cordelia was not in the best location—her auburn hair stuck to her forehead as she was sweating and puffing from overexertion of herself, she had underestimated the ground zero called Seoul and knew why the government was hesitant to send anyone there for reconnaissance missions and she was being dumb thinking she, a mere SS hunter could take the SSS+ monsters of Seoul.
Cordelia cussed under her breath as she dodged from beams of energy from the monsters and landed against the wall of the nearby building. She watched, helplessly as a beam rushed her way and she closed her eyes, waiting for death to come but it never did.
When she opened her eyes, she had to squint them to see what stopped her demise—standing before her was a man with brown hair wearing worn out clothes and a pelt of a monster.
Who was this man? That was the thought flowing in her mind but before she could voice it, the man jumped into the monsters.
Alaric cleaved through monster and energy beams alike, dwindling down their numbers at a rather frightening speed. Before long, the once crowded with monsters vicinity was empty, corpses of the monsters laid on the ground and he stood over them. He turned to look at the woman he had rescued and jogged over to her.
"Are you okay?"
Cordelia stared at Alaric unable to muster a word to reply. The man had single-handedly obliterated the monsters that she, an SS hunter was having trouble against. She scrutinized his features, but he did not recognize him and she opted to nod, words still difficult to leave her mouth. Cordelia placed her weapon on her hip and cleared the dust from her pants.
Alaric watched her with a raised eyebrow. "Are you a hunter? Why were you here? What did the government do about the people of Seoul?" He asked questions in rapid succession, eager to learn about what had happened since they left to clear the dungeon.
"Please S-slow down." Cordelia stuttered, her face turning red from embarrassment. " The people of Seoul were given shelter in the other cities, and as f-for your first question, yes I am a hunter, SS hunter, Nightweaver Cordelia, what is your name?"
[Cautionary warning, revealing your real name as the aspect of the chaos dragon can lead to unnecessary problems]
Alaric stared at the digital panel, chaos dragon? His name was Drakenfell Alaric, what was the damn thing even talking about. Disregarding the words, he returned his attention to Cordelia who was eagerly waiting for his response. "My name is Alaric, I am one of the SSS hunters who were sent out to clear the tower over there."
Cordelia gwaked, this man had previously been deployed to clear what is considered humanity's catastrophic tower, not only that but he had survived that monstrosity? It made sense to her, how he could be that strong to casually kill monsters that were SS+ level. Coupling her surprise, was a wave of excitement, excitement that the South Korean government would do something about Seoul, and the prospect of many coming back if he returned, surely others would.
"Are there others that made it out with you?" She asked, her voice sounding hopeful.
Alaric looked down briefly, his face crestfallen as he remembered the allies he had lost in the tower. Many whom sacrificed so that he could reach the end and bring an end to the peril they had previously faced.
"No, I'm the only one."
As if a light had been extinguished from her eyes, Cordelia's happy face slowly eased and she looked at the ground. "I see, that's unfortunate... But on a side we need to inform the Hunter Association that there had been a survivor after all, you guys were written off dead and Seoul is still a red zone for monsters."
[She speak no lie, there are still life forms detected around you]
Alaric saw the digital panel on his right showing an area scan with multiple life forms visible to him. He looked at Cordelia. "Get to higher ground, I can handle the monsters here."
"But!"
Cordelia's retort died in her voice was she saw the stern look she was getting from Alaric and she nodded—she told him to be safe and left to find a higher elevated foothold.
[Skill unlocked. Monster lure.]
[Want to use this skill?]
Alaric grinned and accepted the choice selection the system provided him. The twin blades he used in his hands—a crimson wave erupted from his body covering every crevice of the shopping district. It took little over a minute before loud, feral growls came from all around him, the growls approaching quickly and Alaric was prepared for them.
[ Draconian blood active]
[Ice dragon sword awakening]
The system panels informed him and Alaric could feel the shift in his body composition—his skin adorned scales, his eyes turned blue and his fangs grew in length. He raised his eyes to look at the monsters and he saw something that took his breath away, he no longer saw the world as matter but as particles of energy floating around. The twin swords vibrated in his hands as they merged into one without his doing becoming a rather massive blade in his hand. The blade was blue in color, shaped like a dragon tooth, it had a white color running along its length and around the handle was an eye that was moving around a bit.
Alaric jumped up and he landed in the center of the monsters smashing the sword on the ground. "Ice age!" A powerful gust of wind, followed by a powerful frosting of snow erupted from the point of contact between the sword and the ground creating large glaciers which spread out like a porcupines spines skewering through the monsters with ease. The chain reaction lasted for a little over five minutes and when it died down, both Cordelia and Alaric were shocked.
The shopping center was like the ice age.