"Anything can become a Nest. For some Voidlings, a simple box can be enough. Yes, a Nest like that would never become a problem but remember that it is a possibility.

Next, we have small caves, tunnels, or abandoned buildings. Those will be the kind of Nests that you will encounter most often. This is also where the formation of a Nesting Gate is possible — but we will talk about those later.

And finally, there is what we call the 'Death Nest'. This one can encompass an entire village, city, or in the worst possible scenario, an entire planet. Here, you need to only remember one thing. Run and never come back."

~ 14th Lecture in Tariem's Military Camp

---

Just when Leo's foot stepped out of his hiding spot and into the hallway, he quickly withdrew the limb when a realization struck him. Right, I forgot to check the new menu. Got a bit too excited there for a moment.

Sighing, Leo took a few steps back and leaned against the wall beside the room's exit. A quick thought had his status window right in front of his face. Seventy-eight Ether. Leo nodded. Let's see what I can do with it. You have kept me guessing long enough.

Welcome to the Ether Menu. With your newly improved connection to the System, you might now enjoy the full benefits of Ether. Please be reminded that some functions might be limited according to your Job. At the same time, prices might fluctuate in the face of different events happening in the Universe.

Spend your Ether:
-Shop
-Market
-Honing
-Additional Sustenance

The System might have offered only four options, yet Leo perfectly understood their potential even without choosing any of them. Well, mostly, one could never be too sure about the System. Alright, Shop, what do you got for me?

With a single command, a wide window appeared in Leo's mind's eye. However, even with its size, only about half of it was filled out, displaying a number of items that the Shop apparently offered. Not bad…

Thanks to the short list of items, Leo quickly ran through them all. From a simple pack of clothes, tools, and some melee weapons to items that modern and ancient Hunters might have used in their lives. It honestly wasn't much, but still enough to be useful to any survivor.

Still, those prices... A grimace spread across Leo's face at the numbers next to the items. While affording those things wouldn't be much of a problem in the long run, spending twenty Ether for a common hunting knife just wasn't optimal. Or smart.

At least now I know the value of those flares. Ten Ether for a single piece. Now Leo for sure wanted to find out what they did. The name alone indicated a one-time-use item, so for it to cost that much... Well, it better be useful, or Leo's disappointment would be immeasurable.

Shaking his head, Leo moved on to the next option, which quickly proved even more useless than the last one. What am I missing, he mused, scanning the empty window from top to bottom and promptly ignoring the 'Sell' option. Wait, here it is.

There in the bottom left corner, a few lines of text sat innocently. 'Market's range is limited to the current safe zone or two hundred meters in each direction when a safe zone isn't available. This limitation might change with some Jobs centered around trading.'

Leo narrowed his eyes. Well, that's just fucking fantastic. I still don't have a single clue on how to find a safe zone in this shitty world... Whatever, next.

With a single wave of Leo's hand, the screen drifted away, leaving only the Ether menu in sight. Honing. This time, after making a choice, the System gave Leo only a simple prompt.

Please choose an item to hone. Remember that without a job directly related to upgrading (Smith, Enchanter, Artificer, etc.), your ability to hone objects might be severely limited. Warning: Install-Type items cannot be upgraded using this function.

Huh. Brow furrowed, Leo unsheathed the bowie knife.

Bowie Knife (Common) | Upgrades remaining: 3

Honing Available:
-General
-Durability
-Essence Conductivity

Okay, now this has some potential. While the amount of Ether necessary for even one upgrade was relatively high, Leo didn't doubt that sometime in the future, this function would see a lot of use. Also, it definitely made Leo wonder about his job choice.

Shrugging, the window faded away. Hunter had already proved valuable several times in the past, so for now, there was no real reason to change it. Besides, even if honing could help, Leo didn't want to waste Ether before he evolved. For now, he might have enough, but danger lurked at each corner, and Limit Break at full power wasn't cheap.

"And for the final one," Leo muttered as the last option snapped into vision. Unlike the previous ones, 'Additional Sustenance' offered two more choices, 'Artificial Food' and 'Boosters'.

The first seemed pretty straightforward. A User could pay a bit of Ether for the System to take care of their necessities. Hunger and thirst? Not a problem anymore if one had the necessary change.

As for boosters?

Yeah, I'm not gonna touch those for a long, long time. A temporary percentage boost to a chosen attribute was one thing. Paying more Ether than Leo currently had for the weakest one was another... I will stick to Limit Break for now. Thank you very much.

Pushing his body off the wall, Leo took a deep breath as a well-known blanket of Essence settled over his skin. Shadows slithered over his palms without hesitation, forming the already familiar blade in one while covering the other.

With a small smile, Leo stepped into the dark corridor. The distant raging of monsters bounced off the walls in an endless symphony while the soft breathing of Vetilim pulled Leo's gaze in random directions. Nonetheless, his feet never stopped moving, never wavering. One step after another, the darkness parted, slowly letting a small ray of sun past its curtain.

Finally. Soon I will be back, but for now... Leo sighed as he stepped into the dimly lit reception room from last night. With no Shadow Tails in sight, he pushed past the mess on the floor and jumped over the fallen door.

Instantly, Leo raised his hands, shielding his face from the bright light of the morning sun. It definitely had been a while since it shone so brightly... Or I'm just unaccustomed after all this time in the darkness.

Blinking as his hand fell, Leo's mouth opened ever so slightly at the sight that greeted him. "What in the ever-loving fuck happened here..." He muttered even as True Stealth stopped the sound.

Staring back at Leo was a changed world, one he could barely recognize. No matter where his gaze landed, it was filled with shades of crimson, violet, and black. Vetilim and what Leo now identified as Corcera spread everywhere.

This living matter consumed almost every part of fallen buildings that once stood tall and proud. Barely anything was spared as the Void claimed Earth's surface. Hell, even the flora had evolved during Leo's absence.

Small plants that once barely poked through the gaps in sidewalks now spread over most of the ground. They painted the world in the colors of the Void while growing high enough to reach Leo's knees.

Then there were the trees and bushes, overgrown and taller than any remaining building. All of them grew toward the sky, soaking every bit of light even as Vetilim and Corcera hung off their branches like vines. Some parts of the living matter even spread to the sides, growing like a spiderweb that connected every single tree and half-collapsed building.

It was like a jungle had consumed Wolford — no, the world — in a matter of a few days. How... Leo gaped, still frozen in his spot. I was only gone for a few days. What happened? System?!

Backing off until his back hit the warehouse's wall, Leo waited for an answer, for anything really that would make sense of his surroundings. Answer me, for fuck sake! He screamed to the heavens as his body slid into the tall crimson grass.

Leo's mind raced a hundred miles per hour, trying to find an explanation for the world surrounding him. He searched and searched until a thought struck him like a sledgehammer.

Cataclysm.

As the word circled through Leo's mind, he took a few calming breaths, forcing the pulsing crystal in his chest to slow down just a bit. But how and why? Yeah, the System gave me a few warnings about a possible Cataclysm, but is it capable of such change?

Yet, the longer Leo thought about it, the answer became obvious.

Yes, it is.

Outbreak, they might call it, but it was the First Cataclysm that had begun it all. The entire population and a part of Earth's surface changed in some way by a single event. If the first event did all that, why couldn't the second one finish the job?

Does it mean that more survivors got changed? Are there any humans even left? Leo gritted his teeth as he slowly stood up and trudged towards the remains of this courtyard's fence.

Breaking through the mist of depressing thoughts, a voice echoed in Leo's mind. 'Those who survived the first should live through the second.' The familiar musical tone rang in his ears, now louder than ever before.

You! Leo stiffened just as his hand touched the Vetilim fence. Are you sure? How can you know? Yet no voice answered his questions; only the soft breeze and screeching of distant monsters remained.

Growling, Leo punched the living matter, quickly leaning away as a tiny tendril of dark mass tried to grab his limb. With a muttered curse, Leo slashed at the offender, cutting it away from the rest of the fence.

The fuck?

As Identify refused to work at the tiny bit of Vetilim, Leo poked the fence several times, getting no reaction in response. Weird. He frowned. Anything about this, Nikra? No? Leo scowled. You better at least be right about the Cataclysm.

No, no, no. Leo repeated, taking another deep breath. You must be right. They survived, and even if the world changed, they are fine. They are fine...

Fists clenched, Leo pushed those thoughts away for a moment. They didn't really matter; even in the face of the entire world changing, his plans didn't change.

Alright, let's get going. Steeling his nerves, Leo took a peak at the road — or rather what was left of it — and frowned as various Voidlings entered his sight.

I don't see any new variants, but those fuckers definitely leveled up. Eyes narrowed, Identify went into overdrive, jumping from one target to another. Yet with each Voidling scanned, it became evident that they all gained at least two levels when Leo was gone.

So level five on average, with six and seven probably being more common than I would like... Still, shouldn't be much of a problem if I don’t make too many mistakes.

Nodding, Leo dashed out of his cover and sprinted towards the nearest Cursed Human. A single jump cleared the distance between the two, and Leo slid a Kiss-enhanced knife into the monster's skull.

Before the dead body fell to the ground, Leo was already flying toward the next beast. Just like its predecessor, this one didn't even have time to screech before it died, its head almost torn off by Leo's claws.

All of this happened in a matter of seconds, and Leo couldn't hide the slight grin that claimed his face.

Now for the next part.

Just when the earth claimed the two dead beasts, Leo slid behind a car consumed by the Void and overgrowth. Another moment passed, and the music from Voidlings walking along the street filled the air. Hook, line, and sinker.

Essence surged through Leo's body, sliding over his limbs and weapons as the Kiss of Death answered the call. His muscles strained, waiting for the command, for the order to strike. And then, when a group of clueless Cursed Humans passed the car, they got their wish.

The world might have changed again, but your fate? Leo chuckled internally as he surged toward the nearest Voidling. Your fate will never change.

...

…

'Kill and grow. We will meet soon.'