Solo Cultivation in The Apocalypse

Reon was in the kitchen preparing for supper, Hitori and Eya would need something as soon as they get back, and she was almost done when she heard the gunshots outside.

He bent down and covered her head, supposing the bullets were meant for her. But they were not. It continued for fifteen shots that she stayed hidden under the workplace.

When the lady stopped to reload, Reon was prepared to see bullet holes in the door. She came out, but the door was as good as before– just that it was ajar. She was unarmed, she realized, she gulped, and went to her bed.

Her gun was lying under the bed. She pressed the button on the side and the magazine popped out. She checked the bullets– twelve of them– and no extra magazine. She pushed the magazine back and took her stance.

She walked to the other side of the room, away from her bed, to take a look at the ajar door. Because she was sure the door was closed when Kakashi left after lunch.

Her heart was still beating at the speed of a racing car, she wondered if this is how it beat during the Midnight Battle, forget it, she can't recall it.

She reached the other end of the room, but the view was still fugue. Then she heard another gunshot. Right after the gunshot, she saw the door push a little and a hand fall from the handle.

She panicked, she jumped back, pointed her gun at the door, and fired three shots. It took two bullets to create a hole in the door, and the third to get through the door.

She closed her eyes and pulled her finger off the trigger. "God, what am I even shooting at? I thought you knew!" she muttered.

Although her heart was still beating as fast as before, she opened her eyes and dared to go near the door– her gun still loaded with nine bullets– she was prepared to face Onogi on the other side.

But what she saw left her speechless and scared to shit. Kakashi was lying on the ground. No blood around him, she examined, but he was hurt, she could tell.

He was grunting and growling in pain. She raised her head and saw the player running for their lives, without even caring about Kakashi. She could not make them care, but she could do something that would help him.

She threw her gun, her eyes fell on the wand hanging by his waist, about to fall any second. She bent and pulled the wand from the belt.

She threw her head and opened her mouth in a moan– she felt a sudden surge of energy as soon as she grabbed the wand. A warlock's wand… she thought.

She took a step back, ignored the shouting players, and pointed the wand at Kakashi. He turned and raised his head at her.

At that moment, she did not care whether she will be able to do it or not, because she HAD to do it, no matter what. So she closed her eyes and remembered Hitori's words.

'It is in you, you just need to bring it out.' That was enough for her heart to feel the burn.

She felt her blood being sucked– the same way she felt when she was seven, had a bad fever, and was saline– but this time, her heart was sucking her blood instead of the saline sucking it out or pushing some liquid in.

The feeling lasted for five seconds or so, and when it ended, it was a signal for her that she was ready to use magic. No waiting after that.

She opened her eyes and felt the energy magnify, she felt it move along every vein of her body, it was like being injected with heroin, but that addictive.

Her vision turned bluish, she did not realize her dark blue eyes were glowing darker than the original.

She swung the wand at Kakashi and shouted the spell she had heard and saw Kamiya, Hitori, and Eya use. "Iyashi!"

A green beam of light struck Kakashi and healed him in an instant. Her control over exporting mana was very bad, it resulted in her using eight percent of mana on Kakashi.

She felt fatigued while the pain in Kakashi's arm was neutralized, and he was ready to stand up. Still, due to groaning in pain and all, he had trouble getting to his knees.

She tried to help, she wanted to, but the mana drain caused her to fall to her knees, then to the floor. Her hand slapped the ground, and the wand jumped out of her hand and rolled towards Kakashi.

With his eyes wide and knees on the ground, he stared at Eya lying on the ground, unconscious. The wand rolled, hit his knees, and came to a stop. He looked at the wand, then glanced at her hands.

In disbelief, he picked up the wand and tugged it to his side. The pain was gone, it did not return. He raised his forearm to check. On stretching his forehand, he saw it was just his popping veins, spreading like a branch from his elbow joint.

He remembered the shots coming from the other side of the room. He thought they had trapped them, so he jumped forward and lifted Reon.

He shook her and checked for any bullets or blood in her body. She had none. She was clean. But she was unconscious. He tried to shake and wake her, but no good.

"Mana drain," he muttered, then nodded. He laid her back on the ground and moved back. "What were the gunshots then—?" he glanced around and his eyes fell on Reon's gun lying by the door.

Her gun and the holes in the door. He sighed and shook his head. He was convinced and had a good grip on the situation. "It was her," he said to himself.

Now he had to get her off the ground. He lowered his forearm, got to his knees, and picked Reon off the ground.

He kicked the door and carried Reon to her bed before dropping her on the bed. He rose back and went to get her gun.

She was wearing a skirt, he did not bother to tuck the gun in her skirt, then cover it with her T-shirt.

He turned and took out his wand. He pressed it to his mouth and tried to connect with Eya, but he could not. He clicked his tongue and turned around.

Pain. pain in his forearm. He glanced at it, but nothing. He was not even sure what pain was real and what was his imagination. But he was sure of one thing– he needs to check on the house, but without Eya?

He looked at Reon. "Will she be safe?" he wondered. "Fuck this, I will enchant the Vr-cade."

He kept his wand back and raced out of the room. He went to the counter, leaned over it, and pressed a button to shut down the Vr-cade. He was pretty sure no one was still playing after all that.

He locked the main door, thankfully it was alright, then cast a spell to prevent anyone from breaking in. he turned and teleported as far as he could.

His wand to his lips again, he tried to contact Eya. "Eya-nee?"

"Yeah, himbo, need help?"

"Yes. Sure as hell I need help."

"Hey, did that work so hard for you?" He heard her giggle, which was not funny at all.

"Where are you?" he asked.

"Just handle the Vr-cade for a few minutes, I am meeting with Hitori-san, I will head to the Vr-cade as soon as possible."

"That boy? Why? Shit, things here are out of hand. We were attacked—" She hung up. He groaned in frustration and shook his wand.

With a frown, he looked at the path ahead of him– the bridge was visible– he put his wand back, and decided to meet them on the way.

They reached the bridge, his heart still beating fast due to the fear and the excitement from the idea of revenge. Akira was still confused, but he trusted his brother and decided to follow him.

They climbed the bridge. Hitori glanced behind him, Akira was following him, he looked past him, and saw the people going to the park, some to the shops, and some going home. He raised his head and saw a flock of birds above his head, going to their nests before it gets dark.

"Whatever it is," Akira said, walking past him, "you can always tell me."

Hitori lowered his head and found Akira at the bridge's peak and climbing down. He ignored him and climbed down the bridge.

"You should contact and let her know," Hitori said, catching up with Akira.

"Oh, not a problem. We will be seeing her on the way."

"Not if she uses teleportation. Contact her now."

Akira rolled his eyes and took out his wand. He placed it against his lips, and with a ding, he knew he was connected.

"Eya-nee? Where are you?"

"Oh, are you waiting for me? I arrived at the Wagon station, Kakashi kept me, he said that he needs help with the Vr-cade. He is dumb after all, so yeah, I will be there in three minutes."

"Oh, god," Hitori muttered. He and Akira exchanged glances, and he shrugged.

Akira nodded. He knew he was supposed to stop her, but he waited for Hitori's permission. "No, no, Eya-nee, we want you to come to the Vr-cade."

"W-what? What is wrong?"

"Ani—" He stopped and glanced at Hitori. "Hitori here thinks the house is in danger, so we want to regroup at the Vr-cade."

"The Vr-cade? Seriously? Where are you?"

"Uh," he glanced at Hitori again, "we are on the bridge over the river."

"Alright," she said, she sounded like she was in a rush.

"We are heading towards the Vr-cade, let us meet—"

"No, no, you are not going anywhere. Stand right where you are, I am coming."

"Huh? By the time you come, we will reach the—" She hung up. Akira tried again, but she hung up.

"Let us go anyway," Hitori said. "She will come whenever she does, we will get to the Vr-cade as soon as possible."

Akira held his wand by the side and nodded. "What is the point of keeping us waiting if we are going to meet anyway?" he asked as he stepped forward.

To answer his question, Eya appeared on the other side of the bridge, then climbed to its top. "Because god knows what trouble you two will out yourselves in."

Hitori jumped and turned around. His hand went for the wand automatically, it just clicked to him that he should draw his wand. So he did.

Eya kept her calm and climbed down the bridge. "What is wrong with waiting for a minute? It did not even take me a minute."

Akira's mouth dropped open and he stared as she stood in front of him. He never thought that was what she meant by: 'Wait right there, I am coming.'

"I don't want you two to be on your own. If this IS something serious, we need to stick together."

Hitori had many questions he wanted the answers to, and he had many things to say to her. But he kept them all aside and said to Eya:

"If we need to stick together, we need to head to the Vr-cade as soon as possible. Kakashi and Reon need us."