Crow, to the trio’s delight, did in fact taste like chicken, Horribly dry and not at all seasoned, but it did taste like chicken, and it was a great reminder of the pleasures of life amidst the last couple days of what can only be described as a hellish apocalypse.

Each bite of crow saw to the growth of his Vitality, and most likely to the other two’s as well.

With a small satisfied smile, Sebastian leaned back against a pile of debris and exhaled, closing his eyes briefly. He really did begin to see the need to just.. sit down and relax every few hours. Process what’s happened to him, make sure he’s still awake and not in some fucked up dream.

His realities have always been a little hard to differentiate.

Sitting in quiet contemplation, he felt strangely relaxed, letting the pain from chewing with his fucked up face fade slowly. A strange serenity overcame him, a perception of himself.

He saw his Vitality, larger than before by an obvious third, flowing around his body like a raging river, healing his wounds, strengthening his body, reinforcing his bones. It was a warmth he had felt before, during the bird fight.

As if by instinct, he tried to press his will upon the energy coursing through his body. It resisted, struggling as he tried to bend it to his will. He felt it try to slip away from his consciousness, attempt to flee to the deepest depths of his body like an untamed dragon. The clear disobedience frustrated the bladesman, and with a cold snort he exerted more of his mind on the energy.

It seemed to freeze briefly, before thrashing around inside his body violently as it wanted to be released from control. Damaging the muscles, bones, and flesh it had previously healed moments before, it turned into a weapon of destruction inside Sebastian’s body. Ken and Mariah saw his eyes remain shut as he abruptly coughed out blood before returning to a stillness.

Eventually, the strength of the Vitality weakened, corrupted slowly by an ice blue colour as it turned sluggish, remaining inactive in his body around the solar plexus. It had depleted largely as it fought his control, but now he felt it was entirely his to command.

He willed the energy within his body to move towards his hands, and he felt the flesh grow sturdier, stronger, denser. His hands exuded a slight chill, filled by his Vitality. Sebastian had finally opened his eyes to look at his hands.

His Vitality.. had an attribute, and it was cold? When his mental stats reached the threshold previously, he had chilled the air above his hands as well. Was it not so random then? Maybe he had an affinity towards the cold? Would it be frost, chill, or ice magic? Is his Vitality ‘Ice’ Vitality?

He frowned. He looked over to the other two briefly, only to be interrupted by the familiar red text again. Narrowing his eyes as he focused on his text, he felt his heart beat faster.

[Host has discovered his innate vitality]

[Host has discovered his magic talent]

[Host has discovered his Ice Affinity. Adding Skill]

[First survivor to discover their affinity. Recording feat]

[Given Unique Title, Prime Aspect of Ice and Snow]

The abrupt notifications startled him, and he felt the chill within his palms grow as he processed the words shown to him. He felt something at his core abruptly change. It wasn’t an inherently positive or negative change, but simply a change to his being at the deepest level, and that lack of control unsettled him.

His once deep ocean blue eyes had shifted to a colour imitating his Vitality, a light ice blue that instilled a chill in those that gazed directly inside. The random difference in the man’s presence intimidating his two companions.

[Sebastian Albrecht, Prime Aspect of Ice and Snow]

[Lv. 7 Human]

[Class: N/A]

[Profession: N/A]

[Attributes]

Strength: 20

Agility: 12

Constitution: 20

Intelligence: 10

Wisdom:10

Perception: 10

Attribute Points: 5

[Skills]

[Identify] [Inept Saber Expertise] [Ice Affinity]

He hadn’t expected his random decision to rest a little after eating the Crow would give him such a reward. His relaxation led himself into what he felt was only described by pseudo-meditation, which led to him feeling the instinct to try and control his Vitality, which led to discovering his affinity..?

The whole thing gave him a headache, but at the same time he did feel more ‘attuned’ to a specific element of the world around him, a part of the mana in the air. Did mana have different types too? Would different areas have different densities of different types?

He groaned, the feeling overwhelming him for a moment as he breathed in and out to calm himself. Either way, it was a plus more than anything else at the end of the day. He had suddenly earned a rather long, important sounding title, and he felt the changes already. It didn’t seem to have any other benefits at the moment, but the increased attunement and strength of his ice vitality and mana seemed good enough.

Letting his Vitality turn dormant again, he released a turbid breath as he stood up and looked at the other two. “I’ve found my affinity and earned a title, as Scorn puts it. I was the first to do so, apparently.”

“Affinity? A title?”

The two looked at eachother, a look that was equal parts confusion and envy. Confused at how it happened, envious at the obvious changes.

“I got a title for being the first to discover my affinity. I earned my affinity by controlling by ‘Vitality’ as I put it. An energy flowing through and strengthening my body. I assume it was also because I’ve crossed the ‘Mana’ threshold as I call it, where one has 10 in Intelligence and Wisdom.”

He explained it calmly to them the best he could, knowing just what advantage the two would have over others if they knew this information. If they properly achieved/unlocked their affinities, their capabilities would quickly shoot up, be it from the control over their vitality or the increased sensitivity towards certain mana.

When it came to Vitality, Ken clearly understood what Sebastian meant, and when it came to the threshold, Maria clearly knew what he meant. The two had decided their paths it seemed, so they would only do the bare minimum in the other path to achieve their affinity and then continue pursuing the one they wanted.

Sebastian had the odd feeling inside him though that his title would help him pursue his path, which was quite simply just.. both. He wanted to pursue strength in body and in mind. His direction now clearly laid out in his mind, he decided to spend his attribute points while his companions comprehended the new information.

He was fairly rounded at the moment, so he put two points into Constitution and Strength each, leaving the remaining for Perception, bringing them to a pair of 22s and an 11 respectively. It was only now that he had control over his ice blue Vitality that he realized the warmth that came from level ups wasn’t from his body, rather something else. Maybe the ‘experience’ points he collected?

Shaking his head, the bladesman walked towards the storage room with a large bag the supermarket had prepared, looking for a few of the priority items on the list of medications. Insulin, inhalers, antibiotics. The more general things that could help more rather than less. The more they grab now, the longer they’ll take before needing to come back, and considering the increasingly strong beasts around, not even he wanted to do that.

Very quickly he saw the other two enter the different storage rooms with their own large bags, taking the more niche medications for various transplants or illnesses. None of them were well versed in medication at all, so they just read from the list of what was needed and took what they found.

Carefully searching for an hour, they all met back up at the front of Goodman’s. There was only so much they could take with them without putting themselves in danger, and not a single one of the three were in a masochistic mood at that moment, not after the previous discoveries about affinities.

Taking another hour or so to rest, putting them well into midday, they started heading back. The streets were mostly clearer now, as the area had been cleared on their first way through. Assuming they took too long, though, they’d be assaulted by the masses once more.

The walk was a lot less boring than it was the first time around, having brought the cooked crow along for snacks. The flesh did in fact, much to his delight, have a positive effect on their Vitality. Sebastian wouldn’t mind carrying some cooked chicken- crow, if it meant growing even a little bit stronger.

At the same time, he was experimenting with different ways to manipulate his Vitality. He had found that cycling his Vitality in different pathways along his torso, it would strengthen and increase slightly at varying efficiencies, though none had seemed too efficient yet. It seemed that Vitality couldn’t be cultivated manually until after having reigned it in, unless you include eating the corrupted beasts.

It was almost nightfall when they bypassed the barricade and returned to the Doctor’s apartment, a place that still seemed untouched by any terrors of the outside world as the trio rested there briefly. Zachary was rather happy seeing that none of them were particularly injured, and gladly offered some more food that they politely rejected.

Once there, it didn’t take long for the group to once again be on their way. Everything seemed to be going well for the now party of six, as the area within the barrier was much safer than that of the space outside. They could even afford allowing the family of three to level up themselves.

Sebastian or Ken would crippled the pests with the flat of their blades, breaking their legs or bleeding them out, making sure they only remained alive. Zachary and his wife, Catherine, had to get over the urge to vomit whenever they saw the crippled animals, but the same sight also gave them the pressure they needed to commit to the kill.

With the Lv. 7 at the helm of the group, their two unlevelled people quickly became Lv. 2. Again, Sebastian never asked about their stat choice, he just did his best to explain what each one did as they walked the rest of the way back to the supermarket.

The night gave their trip a beautiful backdrop that rested Sebastian’s mind amidst his growing unease. The stars brought out by the lack of artificial light were a sight for sore eyes.

Turning the corner with a light smile on his face, Sebastian rested his saber against his shoulder, his other hand carrying the bag of various medications tightly. He expected to very quickly see a patrol group greet them as they returned.

Boy was he fucking wrong. A massive swarm of rats was waiting outside the supermarket, not a single patrol group in sight. What must have been dozens, if not hundreds of rats piled up against the walls, windows and door of the building in complete silence. His body tensed up, his grip tightening on the handle of his blade as he felt a chilling fury fill his body.

His mind had been warning him, telling him something was wrong. He should have known that the swarm would move towards the largest source of food, and yet he simply didn’t think about it, throwing the thought to the back of his mind as he tinkered with his new ‘powers’ and strength. Sebastian suddenly felt disgusted with himself.

He was being so willfully ignorant that he even brought a child and her parents to this place, knowing somewhere deep down that it would most likely be swarmed by now. His vitality subconsciously started circulating within him as he began to release a bone-chilling air around him.

“Ken?”

“Sebastian..”

The teen looked at the bladesman with some despair, doing his best at the moment. Assuming this all ended well, he’d really need to start helping this kid get stronger, faster. He seemed worth the effort, even moreso than before.

“I need you to go around back with all the medicine, take Mariah and the family with you. Alright?” Sebastian handed him his own bag of medicine, his eyes staring off into the horde.

“And what will you do?”

His voice shook, as if he already knew the answer.

“I’m going to be one hell of a distraction.”