[Traits]

---

I saw this 'Archive', though I didn't have the mind to analyze it in detail. 

Still, I could recognize what this was at a glance. A profile, a status page. It was something right out of a game, filling me with an odd feeling. 

Then I saw something else.

---

{For your first kill during the Grace Period, you have been rewarded.}

{You have received: [Random Ability Tome - Type 1]}

{Opening the Tome will provide you with a choice. Choose wisely, as this will affect your Path.}

---

"Jack! Are you okay?"

Kevin rushed over as a book appeared in my hands. I just nodded as he pulled me to my feet, the bloody knife still clenched in my hand. The adrenaline was slowly wearing off, but I was still filled with a bit of snappy paranoia. 

He didn't question the book as I walked over and stowed it in my bag. Perhaps he wasn't sure what to ask. I mean, who could guess that this book appeared from nothing? They probably hadn't seen this Archive yet. 

With the zombie dead, everyone felt a little safer. The only problem was the fact that the zombie had once been a person. 

It was obvious, though I decided to ignore it initially. The athletic clothes, the lean build. It was one of us, a runner on the team. They had turned into that zombie. 

Not much had changed outwardly. There was no rotting like in classic zombie movies. There were only two things that made it look like a zombie. First was the blood all over its face, the result of eating someone alive. Second was the black blood vessels that bulged from its pale skin. 

The image was still a bit freaky and unsettling, but it still wasn't enough to disconnect it totally from a human. I couldn't help but grow more sick at the thought. 

I had just plunged a knife into its skull. I almost felt possessed, and I'm not sure why I had moved so eagerly to kill it. Maybe it was a sense of duty, or a sense of crisis. Whatever it was, I had acted on impulse and instinct, the desire to kill that monster overwhelming my mind. 

Part of me was happy I did, glad that I wasn't a coward. Perhaps I had used that moment to prove myself. Though, with all the sudden changing and abnormal events, I wasn't sure how to feel. 

Everyone looked between me and the corpse. Some people knew who it was, but I didn't, perhaps another comforting fact. Some people were a bit fearful of me though now that I carried a knife. Though, if it were just that, it might not mean much. But the fact that I actually used it...

"Everyone, listen up!"

Suddenly, the head coach stepped out. 

"I'm not sure what's going on, but there's no doubt that something's happening. This is an emergency situation. I just tried to call 911, but it didn't go through. I might be jumping to conclusions, but seeing this zombie... it seems like the world isn't what it was only several hours ago.

"For now, sticking together is top priority. I'm pretty sure we're not the only ones who heard that voice or experienced that little torture session, so there's no doubt that alerts and alarms will be going off soon. We'll wait for some hours before moving forward. In the meantime, we're going to stay in the stadium where it's safe. Let's get inside first. I also suggest everyone shower. We're all filthy."

With that direction, everyone moved to gather inside the stadium. The girls and boys split into their locker rooms, and many were quick to jump in the shower. 

Nobody decided to acknowledge my knife, so I just stashed it away in my pocket. At the same time, I overheard the coaches talking. 

"We need to check what's going on outside. One of you head up to the top of the stadium, do a little scouting of our surroundings. Another needs to start filling up jugs of water. Water lines aren't going to be up forever, so we need to stock up as much as possible. Grab our survival kits as well. And if anyone wants to volunteer, heading over to the school campus would be a good idea. We can get in touch with any administrators and figure out our situation. Getting our hands on a landline would be good too."

"I'll take care of the water."

"I got the keys to the emergency supplies."

"I'll head to the campus, but if someone can come with me that'd be great..."

The coaches, of which there were 7, all divided the jobs and took to it. They were surprisingly proactive, the looming crisis pushing them to act. 

After a few of them dispersed though, the head coach grabbed one of the male coaches. He whispered in his ear.

"Check on everyone who pinned down that zombie. If it's anything like popular media, this is an infection that can spread. We need to make sure nobody got hurt, and if they did, we need to isolate them until we know what's going on."

"Of course."

With that, the other coach headed to the boy's locker room. He passed by me, and I only nodded to him. 

I followed him in, and the coach immediately rounded up everyone who helped pin the zombie I killed. After he spoke to them in a low voice, they all began checking themselves and each other for wounds. 

In the end, two of them found light scrapes on their bodies, enough that it barely drew blood. Panic evidently appeared on their faces, but with the coach's reassurance, they didn't freak out. 

But they did take measures. The coach took them away to clean the wounds and isolate. Nobody knew if a person could even get infected. And if they could, how extreme was the infection? Could it be fought with one's immune system? Or was it like every zombie movie in existence and the lightest scratch would turn someone within the day?

There was too much uncertainty, so they could only choose to be safe. 

As the showers were full, I waited in a corner of the locker room by myself. I wanted to check out the Tome, but instead I drew a notebook from my bag. I occasionally had school right after practice, so I kept it on me. 

Finding a blank sheet of paper, I started writing what I remembered. 

"It is time... Not by circumstance, not by inevitability... True, unbridled prosperity, at the tips of your fingers... But remaining ungrasped... All have forsaken the ultimate frontier... the corruption of the degenerate swaying the virtue of the paragon..."

"It is time... The next step... Thrown into the depth of extremity..."

"Evolve... Reach the ultimate frontier..."

"Rejoice, Paragon... The Ascendancy had graced the Earth..."

"And the Demise have come for ruin."

I mumbled the words as they came back to me. My mind felt clearer than normal, perhaps due to the little session of torture, and that event was too shocking not to remember in full detail. 

I wrote it all down as I heard it. At that time, Kevin walked over and saw what I was doing. He read through it, and I bit the tip of my pen. 

"Is this everything?"

"...Yea. Except for the last part." Kevin pointed to the last few lines. "I didn't hear the word Paragon after he said rejoice. I heard Deva."

"Deva? I definitely didn't hear anything like that." I rebutted.

"Was it different for everyone?"

We became curious. Suddenly, we walked to a few friends, getting another perspective. 

"Yea, I heard Deva too."

"I heard Paragon."

"I actually heard Archon."

"I heard Paragon!"

Everyone started to jump in, calling out what they heard. Shrugging, I made a counter, tallying the number of people who heard different things. 

In the end, there were three different words people heard. Paragon, Deva, and Archon. 

Out of 85 men, 70 of them heard Deva, 4 of them heard Paragon, and 11 of them heard Archon. 

It was odd, clear that everyone was divided somehow between these three categories. Other than that, I wasn't sure what it could mean. 

This voice was obviously displeased with Earth in some way, talking about the degenerate swaying the virtue of the paragon. Taking it literally, it was saying that the bad people were affecting the good people. 

But it also spoke of evolving, taking the next step. Were we supposed to literally evolve? Into a higher species? That sounded nice, but how was that supposed to happen?

Thinking of the Archive, the Ectoplasm, the stats... It was pointing us somewhere, but I couldn't see where. 

At some point, I put everything away and went to take a shower. It felt amazing, washing off all the grime and filth that had come out of me. More than that, my body felt beyond amazing. I was full of energy and power, and I thought back to that blazing heat I felt during the torture. 

It had felt like all my cells were generating energy, my body burning and refining itself. After that came the cold, though I wasn't sure of its effects. The vision afterward was even more mysterious. 

Regardless, it all made me into something better. As a human, I had been refined. 

'Maybe that's why the knife slid out so easily? Because I got stronger...' I thought before shaking my head at the gruesome memory. All I knew was that my strength was higher than it used to be. 

I kept my knife with me in the shower, fearful that someone would take it. I trusted my team, but these were uncertain times. I felt better having things in control. 

Not only that, but I decided that the shower was a good place to open this Tome.

'It said that upon opening, it would give me a choice, one that affects my Path. I wonder what this Path is.' 

I though while grabbing the Tome that I bundled in my clothes. After that, I took a deep breath while avoiding the water from the running shower. 

'Open.'

I pulled the cover, and the book glowed. The brown leather cover flashed with runes and glyphs, and the white pages within scribbled with writings of an unknown language. 

---

{You have consumed [Random Ability Tome - Type 1]}

{Generating Abilities}

{Generated}

{Choose one of the three options.}

1. [Basic Weapon Mastery]

2. [Skeleton Sentry]

3. [Basic Weapon Assembly]

---

I looked at the options with a heavy heart. 

They were all rather self-explanatory. The first option seemed like it would teach me about wielding weapons, possibly making use of my new power. 

The second option, while I wasn't entirely certain, seemed like some kind of skeleton warrior that would fight by itself. Or maybe it was a sentry gun made of bones that I could place down and shoot. 

The third option was the most self-explanatory. Assembling weapons. 

I first crossed the third one off my list. I wasn't a craftsman, and assembling any kind of weapons would require materials that I didn't have In this uncertain situation, I wouldn't choose something so passive. 

And between the first and second one...

I was athletic, so I thought about getting the first one. It would be nice to know how to wield weapons properly. But then again, I already knew how to shoot guns rather well. I came from a family filled with military, so going shooting wasn't exactly an uncommon pastime. 

But the second one seemed a bit more valuable. A skeleton sentry. Regardless of what it was, it seemed like a weapon. And lord knows I need a weapon. Plus, it wouldn't require me to personally attack zombies. It was a sentry, so it would take care of that for me, right?

I just couldn't see myself getting down and dirty fighting zombies. It was too close for comfort. I had barely stabbed a zombie that was being held down by several men. What about fighting one by myself? And head on, no less. 

I wasn't going to think that I could suddenly start fighting like a martial arts master that could dodge hits. I wanted safety. I wanted to put distance between me and my enemies, and kill them from that distance. 

Getting that far, I made my choice. I couldn't hesitate too long, and I forced myself to make the decision now. 

---

{You have chosen option 2: [Skeleton Sentry - Stage 1]}

{This choice has narrowed your Path. You have chosen wisely.}

[Skeleton Sentry]

Ability: A minion of bone who will faithfully carry out any of your basic orders. This minion sustains itself with the bones of its enemies. It can be summoned and unsummoned at any time. Should the Skeleton be destroyed, 7 days are required to reform it.