The Earth After Rebirth

Kiro had the time to look back, just to see whether his friends were fine. The moment he saw that they were, darkness welcomed him like an old friend. He fell face first making a deafening sound that startled the 4.

They went and stood over him, looking at his unmoving body.

"Is he alright?" Hiro asked.

"He looks pretty dead." Ishaan commented.

"He'd have pixelated." Nikolai answered.

"Yes, Right."

Felix knelt down, pressing his hand on his chest. He was frantic as he couldn't feel anything there, then realised his bandages were in the way.

He had gained a skill that let him be able to sense others mana and HP with a simple touch. But it was still low ranked, so he had to use his bare hands.

For the first time, he unwrapped his bandages in front of people. He wasn't thinking about that, not at all, he just wanted to save Kiro.

Everybody saw his scars he had given himself, they were horrible. But none of his comrades winced or looked away in disgust, they were silently cheering him on. Nikolai had never seen the expression of fear on his face before.

'He knows it's just a game right?' Nikolai said to himself.

He gently pressed his hand on his bare chest, he couldn't sense a single ounce of mana in him. Which made sense because Kiro didn't use that kind of energy.

He continued to search to no avail, but he could finally breathe a sigh of relief as he saw that he had only 1 HP left.

"Quick, a restorative potion, I'm all out." He ordered.

Hiro quickly handed it over. Felix slowly made him drink it. Though it was hard since the person he was feeding it to was in a coma.

After a while, he could feel that his HP was rising, fast. That's when he fell on his butt besides him, relieved. Now they had to just wait for him to wake up, hopefully it wouldn't take a long time.

Hiro decided to make more potions while they waited, so he took out his materials and started working.

Several hours passed, Kiro finally opened his eyes. He was first confused about where he was, for a second he thought he was back in his concrete bed, back in the lower district.

"I don't ever want to experience that again." He spoke up, he still couldn't quite move.

"You're awake!"

The mood was joyous between them once again. They frantically checked if he didn't have any more damages on his body, asking all sorts of questions as if they were doctors.

"You should thank Felix for his quick thinking." Hiro told him, he looked around and whispered. "I've never seen him that concerned about anyone before."

Kiro smiled, "thanks man." He yelled.

Felix simply nodded. Now that Kiro was alive and well, he was back to his aloof self.

It was starting to get dark, again. The star he created worked wonders, though it was slightly bigger than the original one.

It still covered the land with a beautiful orange colour, as it was being swallowed by the night. The moon slightly shone in the sky.

"We finally heard something in the theatre. You must've been out for 4 days. You were right, they are weaker when the sun is out." Nikolai informed him.

They slept gratefully, trusting his spectres to watch over them. Kiro however decided to meditate all night. He was uneasy about what awaited them behind that red door. They may be weakened during the day, but they had no idea what to expect.

It wasn't long before he was completely embraced by nothingness. It wasn't frightening, it was calming for him. He felt a sensation he'd never felt before.

Ding!

[Congratulations, Meditation has evolved to S rank due to continuous usage. You're now able to meditate while awake and or fighting.]

A smirk could be seen on Kiro's face. He reckoned this was a jackpot. He could enter meditation while he walked, he didn't have to halt everything by sitting down to concentrate.

He heard footsteps approaching, he opened his eyes, the sun wasn't out today, grey clouds littered the sky and Nikolai was standing right in front of him.

"About time to go in don't you think?"

"Haa... Yeah." He stummered, usually, assassins could mask their footsteps but now to Kiro, nothing could stay truly hidden.

He slowly got up, he was too aware of his own body, it was off-putting. His own footsteps thundered on the ground as if they'd leave footprints on the concrete that would last a hundred years. He could hear that his blood ran in his vein, he was reminded of a river.

His very own heart was beating at amazing speeds, the organs tossing and turning were a little gross to him. 'I can do this, I can do this, I can do this.' He internally chanted the mantra.

He was meditating while awake but it was proving difficult, but he wouldn't let that deter him.

"Hiro, wanna do the honours of breaking the stupid padlock?" He said breathing unevenly.

"First of all, are you okay? You don't look so hot." Hiro countered, seemingly worried about his best friend.

"I'm—fine. Come on, we haven't got all day."

He gave him a solemn look and shook his head.

'Well, it's just a game anyway, he's not gonna die in real life.' He reminded himself

He walked forward, brandishing his shield and axe. He swung as hard as he could muster, and he totally broke it off in one swing.

They all stared at him dumbfounded. He gave an innocent chuckle, and then shrugged. The red door completely taken off its hinges fell on the ground, revealing a really revolting sight.

Though their noses were attacked first, they didn't know what death smelled like, but they knew the wafting smell was death itself.

There was nowhere to go in. The zombies had completely closed off the way in, they were standing.

Looking up, their eyes were bloodshot. Skin as white as a sheet, that seemed to have been splashed with an almost green colour. Black roots, or veins, could be seen all throughout their bodies.

Kiro listened carefully, they didn't have hearts or organs. It seemed as though they were hollow shells, awaiting to be filled up. Their heads however had brain activity, feint as it was, it was there.

"Ryu, go!" As if he was long awaiting for a command, anything, he sprung up and zoomed towards the zombies.