As I’ve been strengthening her body, I’ve come to realize that I'm not very good at it. It seems I lack the ability to help others effectively.

My body? No problem, I can move my mana however I want, I can even change my heart and slowly turn myself into a construct or whatever the end is. To help someone else, I would need much more time to examine them. Unlike Lily or Sophie, I don't have that instinctual sense and innate ability.

Another thing to work on, I hate feeling weak. Sure, personal power is the most important, but situations like this shouldn't happen to me.

The little body in my arms is still shaking, and I can feel her getting warmer and shaking more.

How weak she is, how delicate her body is. Was I like that when I entered the 1st floor at level 0?

Once again, I search through the system shop, but there isn't anything to help me.

Another thing I could do is to sell my last remaining rare passive and buy a weaker passive that would allow me to heal others, but I do not find anything like that. I barely got any offers to keep myself healed, so I guess it makes some kind of sense.

I pick up speed and I cut my arm to examine the healing process behind my passive skill. Then I stop the passive and try to emulate those movements with my thermal energy in an attempt to actively heal myself.

In the middle of my third attempt, I reach the city and land on top of one of the buildings.

There are old, broken, cracked, or straight-up destroyed buildings covered in greenery as far as I can see. Nature has taken its hold over the area now that there are no humans to prevent it.

The city is big enough to house a few million people, yet it is empty. There are trees growing from the roads, shattered windows peering out from waterlogged buildings, and car-like machines rusting away everywhere I look.

It all reminds me of Earth, yet it is so different at the same time. Nearly every building and every road has some sort of circuits running through them that were once powered by mana and seemed to have been designed to interact with it.

[Perception] reaches as far as I can, and sensing movement, I move to observe only to find a few monsters. Sensing my presence, they rush out of one of the buildings, emitting a loud screeching noise.

They have the appearance of humanoids, with gray skin, red eyes, and tattered clothes covering their forms. Blue veins run through their skin, originating from their hearts.

[Veilshrieker - lvl 123]

[Veilshrieker - lvl 98]

[Veilshrieker - lvl 113]

I watch as they screech, summoning more from the surrounding buildings. Turning their red glowing eyes on me, they start running and burrowing their limbs into the walls of the building just to get to me.

They move aggressively, pushing each other away in a show of rage and bloodlust. They wound each other, they drool, they hurt themselves, and strain their bodies just to reach me faster. There is no hesitation in them, and their eyes are filled with a single emotion.

Pure hate.

I create a field around the little half-demon in my arms so she won’t hear the screeching and wait.

Two dozen Veilshriekers reach me, and the moment they step into my domain, I activate [Redistribution], immediately halting them, and they freeze in the middle of their approach.

I feel them pushing against me, hurting their bodies to do so, and the blue veins over their bodies become darker, eyes letting out a deeper glow.

But they can't move at all.

So, with my disciple in my arms, I step within arm’s reach of the closest one and examine it.

The monster reminds me of a human, and when I cut its chest open, its heart looks like mine. Its heart has been converted into a mana heart under the influence of the system, and is now being used to power this being.

My own heart beats, and I move the kinetic energy I collect, and a blast of it explodes through the monster's head, throwing all the blood and chunks outward with the pressure.

[You have defeated Veilshrieker - lvl 123]

The moment the monster dies, I notice its heart moving weirdly, and it attempts to send out a signal.

In a different situation, I would let it happen just to see what it is, but right now, I'm not in the position to do so. So I disrupt the signal, and when I kill the remaining monsters, I disrupt their signals as well.

A warning maybe, or a signal to summon more monsters towards their killer.

The little half-demon mumbles something in her fervent sleep, and I hold her tighter before stepping over the edge of the building and falling to the street where I absorb the inertia of my fall, cushioning my landing. The absorbed kinetic energy I release in a circle around me.

Walking through the post-apocalyptic city, I try the Community a few more times and then my Mana Wavelength Iris, all to no success. My attempts at learning active healing also fail as expected, it will take months to bear any fruit.

So I continue to move while sending my senses ahead through the city.

[You have defeated Veilshrieker - lvl 6]

[You have defeated Veilshrieker - lvl 15]

[You have defeated Veilshrieker - lvl 2]

My flames burn more of the monsters as I pass through a more densely populated area of the city, though they seem to be much weaker.

Most of the lower-level ones are shorter, their figures are more reminiscent of children than they are of adults. But even they show pure hate anytime they see me.

In the eerie silence of a modern city overgrown with vegetation, their shrieks sound unnerving. The way they jump and attack me, not caring about wounds or the difference in our strength, is just as disquieting.

Hundreds, thousands of them turn to ash in my golden flames, as my improved heart supplies them readily. The flames melt the sides of the buildings, turn vegetation to dust, and evaporate the monsters.

And every time any of the monsters die, I cut off any signals they send.

The young half-demon clinging to me doesn't allow me to move properly, I can’t even use much mana, lest I kill her with a burst of power. It’s a valuable lesson, and I gradually learn how to fight carefully from the fear of hurting her with my mere presence.

As I delve deeper into the city, I finally feel something that seems human. I take a step towards them, but then another presence can be felt nearby.

I immediately seize control of my mana and pull it back, using [Mana Domain] and [Resonance] to hide the mana leaking from my disciple and me. That done, I quickly jump into one of the buildings and step into the shadows.

Down in the streets, I can see three humans passing through. All their clothes seem to be enchanted judging by the way they make it hard to even see them, their bodies hard to focus on without using skills. Still, I do not even try to do so and just stare at them with my senses.

The three of them move skillfully, weaving between the buildings, constantly aware of their surroundings.

[Blurblade - lvl 121]

[Shadow Weaver - lvl 146]

[Spectral Scout - lvl 123]

They freeze their movement, and even though they’ve tried to remain hidden until now, their mana engages at full force as they try to run away.

Not even for a second do they think about fighting, and there is a reason for it.

[Veil Guardian - lvl ??]

From the street between two tall buildings across the road cracked and covered by grass, a monster takes a step.

The monster looks similar to the Veilshriekers from before; it's taller, and the biggest difference is the blades it has in place of its hands. The blades start at the elbow and are as long as I'm tall, both of them made of metal with a faint blue shine.

For a short moment, humans run but then the monster takes a step, and the humans falter and fall down. An effect reminding me of a strong gravity field.

Desperately the men try to escape and activate their skills, but the monster seems to disrupt their mana, and while observing the area, it reaches them.

I can hear the screams, even from my distant vantage point, as the Veil Guardian lowers its body and opens its mouth, eating the humans alive.

I can hear everything, and I can see how desperately two of the humans struggle while the monster devours the first one. Exactly like the monsters from before, the Veil Guardian screeches full of hate as it devours the thrashing man.

When the man dies and stops moving, the monster stops eating too.

The scene repeats with the second human, but the monster seems to be more careful this time. It eats slower and starts with the limbs so the human won't die as quickly.

Once again, the moment the man dies, the monster loses interest and finishes the last one.

Then it stands up, a tall pale figure, blue veins going through the body starting at the heart. Two long deadly-looking blades and blood that drips from the chin of the monster. Its senses, like sonar, examine the area and then it moves again.

And I, without a speck of doubt, know that this is the monster that found me back at the lake.

I give it one hour, and even during that time, my disciple doesn't wake up. No, she seems to be getting worse. She is shaking more, and her body is hot to the touch.

Well, good job, I guess. I really suck at this, don't I?

Using the least possible amount of mana to perceive the area around me and to absorb my kinetic energy as I jump from the building, I walk towards the three men's corpses.

The blood is already dry, and their bodies are cold.

Trying not to look at their faces, I examine their bodies and try to search for anything useful.

I find a small bottle of water, a tiny pack with some dense food, and some items, most of them broken, but I take them anyway, just in case.

Quickly, I leave again, reaching the rooftops and continuing from there as the sun starts setting down slowly. I think it's called the golden hour, isn't it? When the sun’s rays glow with that golden color at the end of the day they make any view beautiful. Even this dead city is no different.

As far as I can see, there is building after building covered in green vines, some of them even have trees growing from their top. Buildings cracked and fallen, streets unusable and overtaken by nature. Yet in some strange, sad way, it's a beautiful view.

(Attempts number two, Owen, can you answer?) sounds in my head.

One of the items In my possession tries to connect to my mind in a way that indicates an attempt at communication, and I allow it to do so.

Looking through the items I’ve looted, I take out an ovular piece of metal with two mana stones inside of it and a set of inscriptions I hadn’t understood until now.

(Owen, please, can you hear me?)

I examine the item and easily find an inscription that acts like a switch.

(Hello, I'm Nathaniel.)

A moment of hesitation before another message reaches me.

(Hello Nathaniel, I'm Darren, can I ask you why you have Owen’s Transmitter?)

The tone of his voice is not nice at all, but there is no wonder.

(I saw a Veil Guardian eating three people, and after it left, I searched their bodies,)

The silence is longer this time. I don’t think he trusts me.

(Darren, I won’t dance around it. I have a level 6 child with me, and she needs medical attention, a healer, or an item. She drank and bathed in the water of the lake just away from the city.)

(What group do you belong to? No, you can’t belong to any, you wouldn’t be asking us for help. Are you a wanderer? Merchant? Courier?)

(I can’t tell you.)

(You just told me three of my friends are dead, and I’m still not sure that you didn’t kill them. Then you immediately ask me for favors?)

Well, when he puts it like that, it’s obvious it would sound bad.

(I will pay you back. I’m somewhat strong, so I’m sure there are things I can do for you. We don’t have to meet eye to eye if you don’t want to. Just leave some medicine somewhere and tell me where it is.)

The start of this floor is far from optimal and has, thus far, proved to be annoying.

Out of nowhere, I start missing the silly doggo. Being able to pet him or boop his snout would at least allow me to alleviate some of my stress.

Still, I continue, (There were some things I found on their bodies. A few mana stones with encrypted information, a weird-looking bracelet, and a small sealed wooden box.)

Seeing how dangerous it is outside and their low levels, I think most of the survivors are of similar strength, and for them to go out, they must have some important mission. Maybe one of the three items.

Darren takes a bit longer to answer, but that confirms it. One of the items I have is important to him.

(Give us the location where Owen and others got attacked. When we confirm your story, we will leave medicine in some buildings, and you will leave the items there. No need for contact at all.)

(Okay.)

After that, I describe my location as best as I can, and the transmitter turns off.