My eyes pried open. A splinter of light leaking through the curtains interrupted my sleep. I instinctively sat up, and felt Livie’s arms still wrapped around my neck. Brushing one of her hands off my shoulder, I watched as her body fell back against the bed.

 

“Such a heavy sleeper…” I sighed as I poked her cheek.

I stretched my arms upwards, then rubbed my eyes. I wish I could have slept a little longer. Yesterday was more than exhausting… A few moments later, I heard the door creek open. Turning my head towards it, I saw Julie peering in.

 

“Good morning, Julie.” I let out with a yawn.

“Good morning, dear. I didn’t wake you, did I?” Julie waved while I pulled the bed sheets off of me.

 

“Not at all. I was already up.” I hung my legs over the side of the bed, then stood up. “Livie’s going to be out for a while longer” Pointing over to the lump under the sheets. I must have accidentally buried Livie in them.

 

“That works out perfectly then. Get yourself ready and we’ll talk over chores.” I could see Julie smile in the corner of my eye while I walked over to the closet.

 

“Will do.” I nodded towards her before she closed the door

 

Opening the closet door, I quickly slipped on the shorts and hoodie I had worn yesterday. The sounds of Livie’s soft breathing was the only accompaniment to the slithering sounds of fabric against my skin. In a few seconds I had finished and opened the door, closing it quietly behind me so as to not awake my companion.

 

Julie was waiting just outside in the hall, and motioned for me to follow her. I soon found myself  in the basement again, just in time to see Eir walk out of his bedroom. He was rubbing his eyes sleepily, when Julie too motioned for him to follow.

 

Eventually I found myself at the large metal door of the lab once again. Julie swiftly opened it with her key, as all three of us stepped inside.

“I’ll be running a quick check on Eir first. Feel free to ask away as I work. Now, come with me Eir.” Julie took Eir’s hand in hers and smiled at him, before quickly walking towards the same curtain I had seen him walk out of yesterday with Keinz.

 

As I followed them from behind only a single question was burning in my mind.

“What’s with all the checkups on Eir... Is he sick?” More concern slipped from my voice than I had intended.

“I suppose you could say that…” Julie's voice spoke out from behind the room's curtain. “Eir has a particularly nasty disease on him. Inflicted on him by the Deity of Beasts that hails from the city to the east of us, Aarungult. The city Eir was born in.” Deities…? Disease…? More questions were now running through my mind.

“Will he be fine? What kind of disease is it?” My concern for Eir was more apparent than ever at this point.

“You saw how he has spots of fur on his body, yes?” The ripping sounds of a measuring tape could be heard, echoing through the rooms. “Slowly the disease eats away at him, turning his body more and more beast-like. The spots of fur and animal-like qualities will only increase until he fully becomes an animal in body. Losing any and all human-like features and traits, except for his intelligence and memories.” Light scribbling of a pen against paper could be heard between her speech. “As long as he stays away from that place, the spread of it will slow down greatly. Preventing him from becoming a beast for many a year.” Beyond the curtain I could see her silhouette stand up, holding the shadow of a young cat-like boy in her arms. “At the very least it’s not contagious or anything.” She let out a soft laugh. “Now Michirin… No, Mimi as your friends would say. Could you be a dear and open the curtain for me?”

 

I slowly slid back the curtain to see Julie holding Eir, who had fallen asleep in the midst of the brief examination. Behind them was a small medical examination bed, and a small desk with a chair, upon which a small clipboard and pen sat. It reminded me much of the small medical clinics back from the world we came from. However, the rest of the room greatly pulled that thought back, and reminded me that this was nothing like those.

 

I followed Julie and assisted her when needed, as we brought the now asleep Eir back to his bed. I waited outside his bedroom for Julie, after which we prepared to head outside.

“How much time does he have left…?” Worry and depression were wrought within my expression, hidden from view as I bent down to put on my boots.

“I’m not quite sure, but he should have at least another five years left. Knowledge of the beasts is few and far inbetween due to the reigning Deity’s disregard for human curiosity. Research into them has both been hard and rare. All we do know is as long as he stays away, the spread lessens.” She paused for a moment before sighing. “However, he’ll have to return there one day, and fulfill his duty beside the Deity.” She stood up after tying her last boot. “If it weren’t for the valiant sacrifice of his parents, he’d have far less.” With those closing words, we left the house.

 

The cool morning air could be felt on my face as we walked off together. It seemed I would be helping Julie with her morning tasks in exchange for information. As we walked towards the nearest one, I couldn’t get Eir off my mind.

“He does look nothing like you or Keinz, despite him calling you his parents. So what did happen?” I walked besides her at a brisk pace. My worry for Eir made me want to learn more about his situation.

“It’s not like we were in a relationship anyways… He was just suddenly thrust upon us and we needed to be able to examine him closely.” She let out a sigh. “But I digress…” She tilted her head back slightly and shrugged her shoulders, a twinge of longing could be felt. “Several years ago, we had gotten a report that some travellers from Aarungult would be arriving in a day or two… However, a week had passed and they still hadn’t arrived.” She held her chin in her hand as she let herself get lost in memories. “We sent a search party out, but by the time we arrived it was already too late. The entire party of travellers had been killed, alongside the guards we had sent to pick them up. It was in a nearby cave that we found Eir, alone. Because his parents and guardians had just been killed, we picked him up and decided to adopt him.” She closed her eyes and lowered her head. “However, I doubt he remembers any of that. It was all traumatic for him, so he blocked most of it from his mind.”

 

As she mentioned trauma, I could only think about what had happened with Keinz last night.

“I’m sorry about Keinz…” I awkwardly put my fingers together and lowered my head in guilt.

“Don’t be, everyone here has trauma. Just some are able to deal with it better than others.” She let out a soft chuckle, obviously referring to herself. “Just remember, such conversation is usually taboo in this world, for much the same reason as what happened with Keinz.” Her voice lowered and her expression darkened. “With him, it just gave him an endless feeling of hatred towards the Deities.” As she ended with that thought she stopped walking. “We’re here.”

 

We had walked all the way to the front gate where Alfred was already waiting.

 

“Good morning, Miss Julie! I was just about to open the gate, the next shipment has arrived!” He saluted as always, while giving his report.

“Proceed as you were then.” Julie calmly spoke her orders.

“Yes Ma’am!” Alfred quickly approached the human-sized gear crank that sat near the gate. With several rotations the gate opened way, revealing a cart of goods being pulled along by a rudimentary vehicle. It almost resembled a car if it wasn’t for the fact it’s machinery was all exposed, and that it hissed out steam every couple seconds.

Julie hailed the vehicle in, telling the driver to drop it off next to the supply tent. Shortly after, we began to follow it. On the way there we continued on with our conversation.

 

“Then… I’d like you to tell me about the Deities next… What exactly are they?” As I let those words fly, I could not hide the bit of fear present in my voice. What exactly were these entities? For them to cause life-long diseases that could warp one’s very body.

 

“You really aren’t from this world, huh…?” She side eyed me curiously. “Scientifically their kingdom was named the Spawn. But most just refer to them as the Deities, due to their influence on the world.” She tilted her head up towards the sky, trying to recollect a long forgotten piece of information. “They primarily started appearing around 400 years ago, give or take. However, there’s rumours that they existed long before then.” She let out a brief sigh before taking in a deep breath. “Far north-east of here, there’s a massive lake that appeared suddenly one day. Most people don’t exactly know when it appeared, or what caused it. What we do know is about 400 years ago the Spawn started to come out of it, and with them came the God of Immortality. A Spawn that was given the highest rank of power, God. Beings so powerful they affect the entire planet with their mere existence.”

 

“If this is true then the God of Magic would also be a spawn as well, no?” I pressed Julie further.

“You catch on quick, that’s exactly right.” She let loose a small smile. “Out of all the spawn the God of Magic, Nostrum, is believed to be the oldest, and is the only confirmed spawn to have existed before they started rising out of the lake. It’s believed to exist underneath the church of Nostrum in the westmost part of the continent. But I haven’t seen it myself. Access is strictly only for the head priest of the church, and this new Daughter of Nostrum.” She let out another sigh and shrugged. “Regardless, the spawn themselves are categorized into several rankings. The highest being God, and the lowest being the Alces. In between them is the ranking of Deity, but nowadays it’s used to refer to any Spawn higher than Alces rank.” A distant look could be seen in Julie's eyes as she mentioned the Alces. 

 

Likewise, I could only think about yesterday, and the hours I spent toiling away to save a man's life from the leftover effect of one.

 

“Further separating the Deity rank; we have Lesser Deities, Deities, and High Deities. Each is said to have enough power to affect an entire town, country, or continent respectively.” Julie's explanation continued. “Ever since they appeared, they destroyed most of human civilization that had been prospering to that point. Most of the knowledge and technology from that time was destroyed along with the catastrophes that followed in the wake of them appearing.”

“That explains all the destroyed wreckage and ruins out in the wastes, and why most of the land is a waste.” My mind thought back to the various destroyed buildings and machinery I had seen when I regrouped with my friends.

 

“Precisely.” Julie’s face brightened up, only to slowly become a scowl. “All those years of human development, destroyed in a single week. Not even the records remain.” Tears could almost be seen coming from her eyes, as she slowly raised her hands in despair. “The deities aren’t all bad though. While their lower brethren certainly are, being mindless masses that seek to consume. Some Deities contain intelligence and can even be spoken with. While all of them have the ability to spread their domain, preventing Alces and even Lost from attacking human settlements contained within their territory.” Her face continued to be a rollercoaster of emotions, switching constantly between passion and distaste. “Almost always, trying to live with Deities involves a drawback of some kind.”

“Like the Deity where Eir is from, and how it slowly turns people into animals?” I was starting to understand how the world worked now. While also feeling a greater sense of despair, knowing there were far worse things than the Alces or Lost out there. Everything was controlled by, and ran around the Deities and Gods that existed in the world.

 

“Exactly…” Julie's face was dropping even more, probably due to the Deity of Beasts being intrinsically tied to Eir. “But compared to others, the Deity of Beasts is one of the nicer ones. Especially when there’s some that can kill you just by living with them too long. Eternal life as an animal isn’t so bad compared to those.” She let out a slight chuckle. “But then you have crazy people like the ones here, who try to get by without the help of the Deities. Of course that’s only possible with the aid of the church. And the constant supplies they send us.” She pointed at the car that stopped just ahead. It seemed we had arrived at the supply tent.

 

“I guess I’ll start unloading the carriage.” I immediately rolled up my sleeves and got to work.

“Thanks Mimi. Consider this training if you want to survive in this world.” As soon as Julie said that, I tried to lift one of the boxes. Soon realizing it had a weight beyond what I could carry. “I have to confirm our order off the carrier here. As I do so, try taking the crates out with Mana.” A sadistic smile flashed across Julie’s face as she turned her back towards me, and started speaking with the driver of the vehicle.

 

Using the things I had learned earlier, when at the training field with Keinz and my friends. I attempted to focus mana into my arms and body to lift the crate… to which it had no effect. Thus I proceeded to spend an hour just attempting to take out a single crate. Both Julie and the driver watched me struggle, laughing as I failed.

 

Eventually I did succeed… at moving only one crate out of the vehicle. I sat down on the floor exhausted by my endeavor, wondering if I strained anything in the process. Julie casually walked up and took out two crates, one in each hand. It seemed that alike people tended to attract each other, as Keinz would probably do the same.

 

After moving everything out of the carriage, the driver left out through the gate. Julie and I  agreed to both take a short break, grabbing water and using the restroom. After which, it was straight to counting and sorting the materials in each crate. As we unpacked them, I noticed not all the crates had the same insignia of the church branded on them. Some of them had the image of an eye, with a gear contained within the iris.

 

“Whose brand is this…? An offshoot of the church?” Naturally I ended up asking Julie, the only person capable of answering my questions.

 

“No... that brand belongs to a shrewd businessman outside the church… pray you never meet him.” Her face immediately soured. Whoever he was, it seems Julie wasn’t quite fond of him. “He’s the kind to flirt with anything, provided it’s female and has legs.” I couldn’t help but laugh in response, as Julie cradled her forehead in her hand. It seems even in a post-apocalyptic world, there were still playboys.

 

“So, what’s the church’s goal in all this? Sending supplies and setting up outposts like this?” As I unpacked one of the crates midway, I couldn't help but ask why they did all the things they did.

“As is Nostrum’s will. The church seeks to aid and help humanity restore itself, along with the damage caused to the planet by the outbreak of the Spawn.” A small smirk peeked out on her face. “It’s really as simple as that.”

 

As we continued to sort out the new supplies. I couldn’t help but feel that if all the Spawn were wiped out, humanity would more than likely have a chance at survival. Perhaps that was too optimistic of me though. Considering the amount of strife and destruction they caused… Was it really worth it to not fight back against them? I could only think back to Keinz and Eir, and what they had to go through.

 

If Hikari was here, he’d probably vow to save the world by exterminating all the Spawn… Regardless of how difficult it would be.

 

But at least one thing was certain…

 

If we wanted to survive, we would have to get stronger.

“Julie… I want to be trained to use Mana.” A clear feeling of determination could be heard in my voice, to the point it caught Julie a bit off guard. After a bit of silence she eventually broke out into laughter.

“You didn’t need much time to decide that, huh? Although regardless of what you wanted, that was my intention.” She leaned over on the crate she was sitting on, the completed checklist laying next to her. The water bottle she had just been drinking from dangling from her fingertips, as a rebellious smile broke out in full force on her face. “Can’t let a bunch of kids with no idea of how to fight go out into the wastes on their own.” She got up and stretched a bit. “Now go call your friends and tell them breakfast’s going to be ready soon.” Julie then left the tent, the same smile as before still plastered on her face.

 

After a couple of seconds to gather my thoughts, I too got up off the crate I was sitting on. And ran out the tent to grab the gang for breakfast.

 

Unfortunately as I approached Keinz’s place to grab Livie. I found she was no longer in the room. Eir, who was still in the house, had told me Sophie had gathered her and the guys, and brought them to the training area. I headpatted Eir as thanks and quickly ran out, still feeling renewed and with a goal in mind.

As I slipped through the gap in the incomplete wall from yesterday. I was immediately greeted to the sight of Livie being sent flying through the air. Sophie triumphantly stood across from her, with fist out. Her punch being the reason for Livie’s sudden flight.