Defiance of the Fall

Chapter 98: Fort Roger

It would be more appropriate to call the wall that ran around the small town a large fence. It consisted of trees with their edge sharpened, and was between three and five meters tall, as the length of the poles weren’t uniform. There even were some holes in the wall due to uneven placement, giving enough room for a person to sneak through.

The town was located right on the edge of the forest, with large trees giving way to expansive fields. The fields might actually have been farmland-before, as they were flat and he thought he spotted a tractor. But the fields were in complete disrepair, overgrown with weeds and unmanned.

With the new energy in the atmosphere anything would grow faster compared to before, and Zac felt it was very telling about the town that they didn’t utilize such a prime source of food. They would only have to clean up the fields and throw some seeds in there, and they would have grain in no time. But he saw no-one even try it.

There was a path leading to an actual gate that Zac stepped out on as he walked the last distance. He didn’t plan on sneaking into the town and didn’t want to alarm them. He also slowed down his speed to normal walking from his Attribute-empowered movement.

As he closed in on the wall he saw there were two corpses hanging from the wall, one on each side of the gate. It was a man and a woman, both in their thirties or forties. It was hard to tell since they obviously were tortured before they were killed. Attached to their feet were plaques that simply said ‘TRAITOR’.

Zac was starting to hesitate whether to actually enter this place, but he knew there weren’t many alternatives. There was another town on the Automatic Map, but it would take at least another two days to get there. With his return back to the portal he would barely make it in time for the next wave, and that was barring there were no unexpected incidents on the way. After making sure his odd clothing wasn’t visible through his worn cloak he started walking. As he approached the gates two guards perked up and warily glared at him.

“Stop! Why are you here?” one of them gruffly asked.

“I’m traveling to find my hometown,” Zac simply answered. There should be lots of people like him who weren’t at home when the world got integrated, forcing them to travel to find their way back home.

“Pfft, another idiot looking to be eaten by the beasts,” the guard said and the other one snickered in derision.

“Five Nexus Crystals to enter. If you don’t have it you can fuck right off.”

Zac was a bit surprised they used Nexus Crystals rather than Nexus Coins as a currency. Then again Nexus Coins were only usable in System-affiliated stores, whereas Nexus Crystals were not only used for currency, they could also make you stronger.

Zac pretended to look troubled, but reached inside his cape and pretended to grope around while he took out five crystals from his Cosmos Sack. He handed them over to the guard who quickly put them in a backpack.

“Is there somewhere to get a drink?” Zac asked.

The guards were a bit more amenable now that they got paid, and Zac didn’t care whether the entrance fee was real or not.

“There’s a bar down the main road, The Royal Oak,” the guard answered with a wave.

Zac nodded and headed into the town. He only took a few steps before he stopped, as a wall of stench slammed into him. It wasn’t to the level of the imp camps in the tunnels, but it was bad. The town was obviously human, likely from America or the UK as the worn signs were in English.

But four months into the apocalypse the whole town looked ready to collapse under the weight of its own filth. Piles of dirt were thrown into the alleys, and disgusting streams of mystery liquid ran along the pavement. He even saw a corpse lying in an alley, halfway buried under the filth. Zac was infinitely happy that he had decided to put his shoes on, as he’d almost puked at the prospect of stepping on the ground here.

Clearly there was no such thing as sanitation in Fort Roger. People just threw garbage wherever. There were few people on the streets, and they looked worn and malnourished. Zac decided to use [Eye of Discernment] on a few of the stragglers and was shocked to see that many were below level 5. There even were a few that still puttered around at level 1. He wasn’t sure exactly how much experience was needed to gain levels in the beginning, as he essentially started at level 16, but he couldn’t imagine it was a lot.

These people were likely mortals just like him. But different from Zac they had simply stayed within this disgusting town since the integration, afraid to venture out. Zac couldn’t imagine that these people would have a happy ending in a world of cultivators and local tyrants. The rule of law was gone, replaced by the creed ‘might makes right’.

He didn’t know why, but he actually felt some disdain for these hapless people. He knew that it would be weird to expect people to rush out into the forests to risk their lives fighting animals. But for people to just give up, like these people clearly had, felt like a joke.

They could work together to kill some weaker beasts, and slowly but gradually gain the power that would allow them to feed and protect themselves. They would also get Nexus Coins for the kills, which could be turned into Nexus Crystals at any System-run shop. They could even just do some work for Nexus Coins and use that to purchase crystals.

Zac resisted the urge to grab these people and shake some sense into them and instead kept going. He was planning on heading straight for the bar, but something caught his eye. It was a large electronics store, now used by a few people to loiter around. There was no electricity so none of the TVs were turned on, but Zac simply ignored the people and headed into the warehouse in the back.

He found the box containing one of the larger flatscreens and simply threw it into his pouch after making sure no one was in sight. Next, he took a video player and boxes and boxes of movies. It was mainly for Alea, who liked watching movies just like Ogras. But Zac was interested in whether they could actually make some money from these things like Ogras hinted, so he took some technology with him back home.

Finally, most of his pouch was stocked up with electronics and movies, and he headed on toward the bar. He wasn’t looking for a drink, but simply to sit down and ask some questions. Soon he arrived at The Royal Oak and saw it was an old Irish Pub. It actually looked like it was in decent shape, with a clean storefront and no garbage piling up around the structure. Clearly there was a proprietor who still had some sense of pride.

He walked inside and saw that the interior was just as he expected. The only difference between this and all other classical pubs he had visited through the years was that instead of normal lights there were candles burning on the tables. Zac already expected it, but it looked like there was no electricity in the town.

He had guessed that things like power, internet, and water supply would be essentially gone with the integration, as the randomization of the world would ruin the network of tubes and cables that had been built over the years. Perhaps there would be some lucky areas that were right next to a water power plant or a farm of windmills or solar panels that might be okay, but most would likely have to do without electricity.

The bar was largely empty apart from a few tables. Everyone kept to themselves, and the conversations were kept at a low volume.

“A new face I see,” Zac heard and turned toward a portly middle-aged man who likely was the proprietor.

He stood behind the bar which he was cleaning with a rag, looking very much the part. The man was British from the sound of it, and it looked like this town was truly from somewhere in England, as it was the same with the guards.

Zac walked over and sat down on a barstool in front of him.

“What can I get for you?” the man asked, looking neither excited or bored.

“Information,” Zac simply said as he placed a few crystals on the counter in front of the bartender.

The barkeep’s eyes slightly widened, and he quickly swiped up the crystals with the rag, quickly hiding them from view.

“You better be careful of flaunting your wealth young man,” the bartender said with a serious face. “You’re obviously new to town so I’ll warn you to not stick out. Safety isn’t one of the strong points of Fort Roger.”

“I understand. I have been traveling looking for my hometown, and need some information. I need to know if a pattern how the world was reshuffled has been found,” Zac spoke with a low voice.

“Have you been hiding under a rock all this time? Well, in any case, it’s all random from what I’ve heard. I’m from northern England, but the next town over is mainly American. No one knows what’s going on. From what I understand a few governments are working together trying to get order back, but I’ll believe it when I see it,” the man said with a scoff. “How are they going to enforce order when people suddenly are able to shoot fireballs and run around like supermen? Never thought Armageddon would look like this.”

Zac sighed at the answer. He at least hoped there was some discernible pattern to the randomization, but it seemed it was too much to ask for. At least the governments were trying to get things under control. He somewhat agreed with the bartender’s assessment, but the information also provided some hope.

Perhaps the government had some means to map out the world. Maybe there were satellites still in orbit, or at least they could communicate by radio. There were many emergency contingencies in place in case of war or the like. Obviously, nothing could have prepared the countries for the System arriving, but they might have figured some things out by now.

“Is this town under the British government?” he asked, hoping to get in touch with an official.

“Pah, what government? This town is run by Roger, a cultivator. Most towns don’t have any affiliation to any government, they are just run by whoever has the biggest fist,” the barkeep said with a low voice. “However, a town called Fairfield is a week’s journey from here. I haven’t gone myself due to the danger, but I hear that it’s quite a large town. And supposedly there are some government people from the United States there, they might know more.

“You were quite generous, so I’ll warn you. You should probably leave here sooner than later. Travelers usually have a tough time here,” he said as he made an almost indiscernible nod with his head toward a few of the tables.

“Why are people still here? This place looks a bit…” Zac said as he hesitated how to finish the sentence, but the Bartender understood what he meant and sighed.

“The road to Fairfield has large packs of monsters above level 20, very few dares to go that way without pushing through with a car. There’s also talk of even stronger pack leaders roving about. But Roger has most of the cars and all the petrol, so it’s better to stay here and eke out a living.”

Zac was about to ask something else, but a loud ruckus outside interrupted him. A loud crash and a few angry roars bled into the bar, whose customers slightly perked up. A young girl’s scream came next and the bartender sighed again with sadness in his eyes.

“It looks like they found her”.

“Found who?” Zac asked curiously.

“You should have seen the two bodies out on the gate? The scream probably came from their daughter,” the bartender answered with some disgust on his face as he continued with a low voice. “Roger took a liking to the young girl, but the parents tried to sneak her out of the town. Truly a miserable family.”

Zac’s eyebrows scrunched together, somewhat unsure of what to do. He wasn’t some hero saving the damsel in distress. But could he just watch these things happen with a clean conscience, knowing he could help?

It didn’t take long for him to decide. He couldn’t save the world, but he at least he could save this girl, and only pray someone would do the same for his family in case it came to that. He got to his feet and turned toward the door. The bartender tried to signal him to stop, but he only answered with a wave as he walked toward the ruckus.