A New Perspective

/What's this? A new chapter? Yes! And it's one full of original content with the ass end of it being the end of the train arc. We skipped, Krista and Omid, but who cares as they won't be part of the story for very long, and not to mention, season one is almost done.\ This was made without Grammarly there to help me, so after giving it a read tell me what you think.\ /Also keep in mind, this is my first fic, expect problems with pretty much everything.\

Year 3392 October 24

 Saisho, the name my master gave me and the name she had said I bore before becoming a sage. And my memories, though foggy, can somewhat attest to that.

 With those foggy memories, I also caught a glimpse of what I used to look like, and to say I was disappointed was an understatement. My body looked fragile, my arms looked thin, and I had no muscle anywhere in sight, and the worst part of it all was how I let someone use me like a plaything; it was downright pathetic.

 But now, thanks to my master, I was no longer anyone's plaything. She had forged my body in her mana pool, breathing renewed life into every crevice of my body and shaping it like a craftsman would shape his work. 

 She had painted over my previous eyes, turning their once blue color into a dazzling amber that looked like an actual gem, and my once messy black hair was replaced by a brilliant gold, each strand feeling as if it had gone through a sift over a hundred times, and like clay, she had reshaped my body structure into that of a physique that would have anyone raving; no longer was I a simple specimen, as my thin body had been turned into a slim and lean build. 

 My clothes, once common, were now entirely made of mana, with that mana taking the form of a robe; intricate designs of Doves, Roses, and Circles painted its surface, each symbol painted in the most tranquil gold.

 The shoes I used to wear were also replaced and left in their place were a pair of wooden sandals, giving me the impression that my master had some Japanese in mind when making up the structure of my wears, but I wouldn't complain, as it was quite nice on the feet.

 Coming up on my destination, I lingered outside for a minute, debating what kind of entrance I'd make, however, after a bit with no progress on that thought, I simply didn't care anymore and went for the door like a normal person would.

 Almost immediately after stepping foot in the building, I could feel and hear a group of people up ahead, their voices bouncing off the empty halls. However, I did set up some precautions before I got here, as I knew at least three in the group of five could use mana.

 So, before I got any closer to the group, I suppressed my mana and physical presence down to nearly nothing and activated an illusion that would make my appearance look like that of a cat.

 Slowly strouding through the near endless halls, I eventually made it to my destination, the origin of the voices. Wiping my hand down the door, I coated it in a layer of mana, not too keen on letting it make noise and alerting the five people to my presence when I pushed it open.

 Seeing as the door went unnoticed by them, I unsuppressed my mana, confident they couldn't sense me, as they had not sensed the mana I smeared on the door. However, I did keep up the illusion, as it would be hard not to notice a literal person standing almost directly behind you, regardless of the person.

 After some maneuvering, I found myself under the table, quietly listening to them brattle on about their newly discovered mana.

 "Do you even know what this means?!" I heard one speak with evident excitement.

 In response to the first one, another chipped in. "Yes, Mike, we have a very clear picture of what this means." I heard her say, irritation clear in her tone.

 And like a chain, another chipped in, this time toward the girl. "Come on, Nedo, cut him some slack, will ya."

 I heard the newly named Nedo click her teeth in irritation. "That's kind of hard to do when it's the only thing he's been talking about for the past two hours!"

 After her shout, the aforementioned person stopped with their chatter, seemingly realizing what they'd been doing this whole time.

 After a few more moments of silence, the one who told off Nedo spoke up again. "Okay, Mike, keep the chatter about this new power to a minimum while were here, and after we are done, you can talk about it as much as you want, and Nedo, try not to be too hard on him, he's just a kid, and kids are naturally curious as you know."

 Watching from under the table, I could see the boy, Mike, nod before going quiet, and the same went for the girl, although she was a bit more reluctant in her nod.

 "Good, Now, we need to figure out what we're going to do. Rin-" he spoke to the man next to him, "I want you to take Mike and go gather whatever supplies we have left; me, Nedo, and Tsuki will pack up whatever we can fit in our bags, after that we leave at sunrise, now get to it." No one argued at his command and simply went on to do as they were told.

 Watching as they split up, a sudden idea popped into mind, one I would immediately put into action. 

 Watching as my mana copie left the room to follow the other two, I could only hope I had put in enough mana to make it last for the few hours I was aiming for.

 Turning my attention back to the remaining three, I watched as they gathered whatever was in the room.

 Nedo dashed around, uncaring of her crimson hair whipping around with each turn and only ever caring about any stray cloth her crimson eyes could find before stuffing it in one of the six bags that lay on the floor.

 The bigger man, Tsuki, was unlike the other two, his calm and patient hands picking apart what looked to be a delicate circuit of some kind before putting it in a box full of foam and other soft elements, eventually breaking it down enough to fit the entire ball sized contraption in it. After that, he went on to get under the shelf, unbothered by his blonde hair touching the floor, before pulling out a medium handgun, his obsidian eyes glazing over its modified mag, its proportions extending past its original size, allowing what looked to be another mag of the same stature to be taped to its side.

 Moving on to the final man, his hands though not as patient as the others were just as dedicated, moving at an impressive speed that would've been hard to achieve without years of practice beforehand. His dark brown hair fell past his shoulders as the rushed actions he was making made it fall out of the light bune he had it in previously; eyes of purple zoomed around, spotting anything he found useful enough to take before moving to a different part of the room and repeating the process.

 Not long after, they had packed most of the items in the room, leaving the once bountiful space an empty husk, even so, I continued watching.

 "Nedo, did you get everything?"

 She scoffed. "If you mean every piece of fabric, then yes, I grabbed everything that wasn't ripped to pieces or torn in half."

 "Good, Tsuki, did you pack up the radio?"

 The mention of a radio had me going back to that odd thing he was taking apart earlier, "So that's what it was." I whispered to myself.

 The man, Tsuki, nodded to confirm he had indeed packed it up.

 I found it interesting that despite not having said a single word, the other two clearly understood what he was trying to say.

 "Alright, make sure your gun is loaded, we'll never know when we might need it, and that goes for you too, Nedo."

 At this, she scoffed, and said, "Whatever." before pulling out a nearly identical copy of Tsukis's gun, with the only thing missing being the modified mag, before proceeding to unload and reload it, trying to really rub in the fact that she did indeed make sure it was loaded.

 The brown-haired man soon followed suit, pulling out a handgun a bit smaller than the other two. "Okay, now all that's left to do is wait for the other two, then we can get moving."

 I was a bit curious as to why they were in such a rush, and where they were going, because, from the looks of it, they had a nice setup here. But that wasn't the point of me being here, so I was quick to discard that curiosity.

 Seeing as they went back to talking, I decided it was about time to get on to what I came here to do in the first place.

 Strouding out from under the table, I made my way over to the group, looking to introduce myself, but before I could, the other two came rushing through the door seemingly in a panic.

 With my introduction postponed, I left the cat illusion up and went back to begrudgingly listening. The boy, Mike, was the first to go off, his words thrown into a pot and picked at random, after a few more incoherent words the other guy, Rin, took over. 

 "There's someone in the building."

 Those few words stopped everyone in their tracks, including me as I immediately sent multiple waves of mana echoing throughout the entire building, stupidly ignorant to the fact that I was the one they were talking about.

 After finding nothing but my double who had just caught up to the two, I went back to listening as the group went into a panic, before eventually, it was concluded that they would move early, too which they didn't hesitate to do as everyone bolted out over the room, leaving my dazed self behind.

 I sighed as I dropped the illusion, and reabsorbed the mana clone. "What a pain," I said to no one, before walking after the group.

 It wasn't long before I felt their presence flee from the building and into the woods surrounding it, and just as I was about to quicken my pace, I felt something dark dart around the forest outside, its form hopping from trees before stopping and falling to the ground.

 Its presence felt disgusting, and the feeling of its mana made me want to rip it apart, as something so foul should not exist.

 At my brief anger, my mana flared, in turn stopping the creature outside in its tracks, realizing it had noticed me, I opted to go all in, with the idea that enough mana would get it away from me.

 So with no restraint, I pinpointed the creature's exact location before condensing every bit of mana I had on that singular spot. The creature, still frozen in place did not show any outward reaction to my mana, which was unfortunate for it as its continued presence unnaturally pissed me off.

 So seeing as the mana didn't work, I continued my walk toward the exit, intending to get physical with the thing. However, as soon as I stepped foot outside, the creature ran; its speed coming close to a bike with no obstructions on its way, and even if it was a foul creature, I found that impressive.

 Sighing, I stretched my mana to its limits, covering over two kilometers in every direction with a thin layer of mana, in turn covering the small group of people who had surprisingly made it nearly half my range in the short span I lost track of them, however in doing this, my mana also came into contact with that thing letting me see its direction and where it was heading, luckily it was heading in the opposite direction of me; unluckily, I'll have to follow it and even catch up as it was heading directly toward the group I was scouting.

 "Bastard," I said while blitzing through the forest.

 I could feel it pick up speed at my chase, which while surprising, was still not a match for mana-infused leaps. After a few more bounds, I determined that the creature would reach the group a single minute before I would, so I could only hope they were able to hold it off until then.

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 My breath was heavy as me and my group ran like a bat out of hell, trying to put as much distance as possible between us and the building we were camping out in. 

 Glancing back, I looked over the small gathering of people and grimaced. 

 Once upon a time, the group was bigger, proudly holding fifteen people, but after taking a small, insignificant shortcut through the city, we had the unfortunate fate of drawing the attention of one persistently tough beast, and over time, with constant relocations the beast picked off the group one by one, leaving only us five left.

 Depressingly, each person killed by the creature showed us more about how to better avoid it, and since it was just the five of us left, avoiding it became far easier, however, looking at the group's current pace, one of us won't make it through the night. Nedo, Rin, and I were keeping up just fine, but Mike and Tsuki weren't doing so well as Mike was lagging and Tsuki was running on grit, his body coming close to giving out because of the strain.

 Scoffing, I turned away, scowling at the ground moving below me. While scowling, I thought. Letting any more of them die wasn't an option and neither was self-sacrifice as I still valued my life. 

 However, my and probably everyone else thoughts were pushed to a stretching halt as the low gurgle of the creature's scratchy voice echoed out not far behind us, its howls sending shivers of terror down my back.

 "Pick up the pace!" I screamed, desperate to motivate them to move faster.

 "GOD! WERE TRYING!" I heard Nedo shout back.

"Try Harder!"

 "You bastard! if we weren't all about to die I would stop to fuck you up!"

 I chuckled; even in a time like this, Nedo could still maintain her hardass attitude. "Don't speak like that; I won't let anyone else die tonight."

 I heard her scoff. "Does that include yourself?!" She yelled over the winds rushing past her.

 "Of course!" I yelled back.

 Despite the cold and somehow still molten gaze on my back, I kept my eyes forward, ignoring the ever-closening howls behind us.

 However, almost immediately after the seventh howl, I heard the horrifying sound of someone behind me collapsing, and not just me, but everyone else stopped in their tracks, all turning to see Mike, on the ground, his ankle twisted at an angle to award to be considered normal.

 Without hesitation, I ran back and slid an arm under his shoulder before basically dragging him along.

 "No! Just leave me!" He screamed.

"Not a chance," I said back.

 "You'll die if you don't!"

I scoffed loud enough for him to hear. "And who decided that?!" I said while catching up to the group whom I had motioned to continue.

 Unfortunately, they didn't take that gesture to heart, as they all had slowed their pace significantly. "Come on! Pick up the pace!" I screamed ahead.

 However instead of getting them to move faster my words slowed them before eventually, they stopped completely, turning to face the direction behind us.

 "What--are you--doing!" I raved as my haggard beath interrupted my sentence.

 At this, Nedo shucked on one of her playful smiles, "Na, I ain't going to let you die; plus, I think it's about time I taught that sick fuck a lesson, don't you think?"

 At this, both Rin and Tsuki hummed in unison, Rin taking the stage next. 

"She's right, besides, I've always hated running anyway, it's like super cringe." Even in saying this, I could see the lingering fear in his pale white eyes, though his long blue hair did a good job of hiding it.

 Just as I was about to refute them, a sickening crack was heard meer feet behind me and Mike.

 In an instant, everyone reacted by pulling out their respective handguns, including Mike and myself, with Mike having to cling a bit tighter to get a stable aim.

 Everyone's breath was being held as we watched the brightening path behind us, the meager light revealing the thing we were all terrified of, its crystal blue eyes piercing our very souls, its eyelids nowhere in sight to stop its gaze. 

 Soon, the light had risen enough to let us see what horrors the thing was made up of. Its nails were long and jagged, showing wear and tear with how much they'd been used; its mouth was by far the most disturbing as its lower jaw was unhinged, falling down to its almost feminine chest. The legs it stood on had two or three joints bending in opposite directions, painting an equivalent to the fantasized windigo.

 Doing a double take on its mouth revealed multiple layers of teeth lining its throat and an almost translucent tongue with a singular barb facing away from the outside and aiming toward the back of its neck.

  Sixty

 After briefly looking over the creature, I wasted no time in unloading bullets toward it.

  Fifty-Seven 

After firing the first shot, the others soon followed suit.

Fifty-Five

  In response to this, the creature began to jump back, landing on the side of a tree.

Fifty-One

 Unbothered and uncaring of the creature's advanced maneuverability, we kept firing.

Forty-Four

 Volley after volley we fired, with each shot making it more apparent that the creature was toying with us.

  Forty

 In retaliation, the creature took off at jarring speeds before appearing right next to Nedo, its arm cocked back.

 Thirty-Nine

One second Nedo was fine.

 Thirty-Eight

And the next, her arm was ripped from her body.

 Thirty-Five

 However, in retaliation to this, Nedo had managed to put a hole through the creature's shoulder, getting it to cry out in apparent pain, as opposed to Nedos uncomfortable expression.

 Thirty

 The creature writhed on the ground as we all took advantage of its momentary disability and unloaded a few bullets of our own.

 Twenty-Nine

 Annoyingly, after a few more shots, the creature overcame its pain and jumped back into the forest, its screeching going with it.

  Twenty-One

 After a few seconds delay the creature, seemingly in a fit of rage and lacking a few noticeable holes, courtesy of the bullets, jumped out in a blur blitzing past both me and Mike before ripping Tsukis leg off, shoving it in its mouth in the process.

 Eighteen  

 Those still able to think did their damndest to ignore His screams of agony in favor of keeping the rain of bullets aimed at the creature, pushing it back with the sheer numbers lobbed at it.

  Ten

Hearing the faint click of a trigger, I realized Mike had run out of ammo.

 Nine

 Setting him down as gently as possible while keeping the up pressure, I held the gun with both hands, no longer aiming at its general direction, instead aiming properly.

Eight

 Despite having my aim back, every bullet ended up coming short of its mark, hitting the trees behind it.

 Seven

 Noticing it was about to dash again, I looked at where it was looking, finding Rin under its gaze; milliseconds before the thing launched itself, I stood in its path, blocking Rin from its view.

 Six

In doing this, I met with the unfortunate fate of having my arm mangled, its form hanging on threads of muscle too small to see; the flooding doing it no favors.

 Five

 However, thanks to my efforts to block the creature's leap, it landed face-first into a tree, giving those who could still shoot ample time to let lose their entire mag.

 Four

 After a few seconds of firing, multiple empty clicks could be heard echoing out a short distance, revealing that everyone had run out of what little ammo they still had.

Three

 Our short hopes of the creature finally being dead were dashed as its form burst up like a compressed spring.

 Two

It turned, and dashed, looking to end our lives.

 One

 And, it seemed like I was the first to go, as the world around me seemingly slowed, letting me see the creature's face inches from mine, its jaw sliding down further to take my head in one go.

 Impact

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 Blitzing into the clearing, I was met with the sorry sights of the people still standing, two had had their arms ripped off, one had a twisted ankle and another missing their leg entirely, with only one unhurt being, Rin, as I remembered.

 Turning my attention back to the suspected leader of the group, I saw that foul and disgusting creature inches from ripping his head off; so, filled with disgust, anger, and a drive to accomplish my original task, I launched myself, planting a foot to the side of its face, kicking it through a few trees.

 After which, I ignored the baffled faces of the group and calmly walked over to the downed creature, its balance skewered because of the force asserted on its head.

 Keeping pace, It wasn't long before I stood before it, glaring with hate.

 In a confused daze, it struck out, nailing my writing arms; their defensive forms quivering under the beast's swing and launching me back.

 Planting my feet back on the ground it hit me from, I pushed down, digging up two trenches in my attempts to stop my backward momentum; in the end, stopping nearly a yard away from where I had originally been standing.

 Looking back up, the creature's furious eye lay bare; their heat comparable to the pressure mana could assert. 

 Uncrossing my arms, their defensive ability no longer needed; we stared at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move, however seeing as there were still people needing immediate care, I made the first move, flashing from my spot and toward the creature, its waiting counter easily avoided as I threw a punch to its gut, mana enhancing it to as much as I could control.

 While it did put a decent-sized dent in its stomach, it was quick to retaliate, using its fierce flexibility to kick me hard; it was safe to say an imprint of its foot had made its home on my cheek.

 Recovering from the kick, I stopped myself from falling to the ground, my hands planting themselves in the soil, going as deep as they could before stopping and acting as an anchor for the kick I threw over my back.

 The creature caught one of my legs but was nailed by the other, sending it flying back, mana taking a great part in going damage.

 Pushing up from the soil, I launched myself out, doing a front flip that landed me on the creature's back, in turn shoving it to the ground, its screech of anger being smothered by the dirt.

 Doing a light jump, I came back down knees first, landing on the back of its head.

 Yet, feeling something was off, I jumped back, just barely avoiding being pierced by a barbed protrusion coming from the dirt beside it. 

 Watching as the appendage receded back into the ground, I could only think of how much more I hated it, its foul smell becoming stronger the longer it fought me.

 Seeing as it had not gotten up right away, I threw myself at it, cracking my fist over its lower back and driving it further into the group. Jumping back, I barely avoided getting stabbed in the stomach, as another appendage sprouted from its side, however, I wasn't able to completely avoid its attack, as a large but shallow gash clung to my chest.

 Scoffing, I had just about had enough of this creature's tricks.

 Poring mana into the wound, it quickly sealed, any infection impossible thanks to superheating the blood around it. Keeping the burning blood, I shifted my weight back to the creatures... Decaying form?

 In utter confusion, I watched as it lay still, its body already halfway vaporized. Curious yet still cautious, I walked as close as I was willing to go before extending a tendril of mana, connecting it to the dark mana the creature harbored.

 Swiftly ripping a piece away, it was quickly shoved into a mana pocket, its smell and visage hidden behind a wall of amber.

 Giving it a few more seconds, the creature had fully disappeared, leaving nothing but the damage it left behind to be proof of its existence. 

 Sighing, I turned back to the group finding most of them on the ground each doing their best to patch themselves up, yet given their current state, they would make it through dawn.

 Leaping over the destroyed clearing, I landed next to the one trying to manage the wounds, his nimble hands doing their best to treat his unconscious friends.

 With my sudden arrival, the boy jumped before pulling out his gun, quick to train it on my torso.

 Putting my hands up in surrender, I pleaded. "Hey now, there's no need for that."

 At my calm words, his gaze and aim faltered before he dropped the gun and turned back to his companions, trying to keep them from bleeding out.

 Glazing over the group once again, trying to assess the damage properly, I unintentionally locked eyes with, the boy, Mike, his eyes wide as saucers. Unsure of what to do, I smiled and waved, and strangely enough this, simple gesture saw him turning red.

 Turning away, I kneeled and placed my hand over Rins frantic ones. At the obstruction he turned to me, a questioning gaze written all over his face, and in response, I smiled before applying more pressure.

 "Need some help?" I questioned like it wasn't obvious enough.

In response, he hesitantly nodded.

 Needing no more words, I pulled out a large sum of my mana before molding it into limbs identical to the ones they lost, ultimately placing them in the absence of they're originals.

 After I was done, I looked up to find Rin, his face full of shock and wonder.

Pulling a finger up to my lips, I spoke. "We'll talk later when everyone's awake, so for now, let's find somewhere to stay as I'm sure you don't want to hike back from the place you just fled, right?"

 "Humm."

Ignoring his silence, I went on to pick up Tsuki and Nedo, placing both on one of my shoulders. "Get the other one would you, I have a feeling this is going to be a long walk."

 Rin didn't take long to follow suit as he hoisted up the nameless man. However, it was another glimpse at the boy, Mike, who I remembered was also injured.

 Turning to him, I chimed. "This might hurt a bit, so brace yourself."

"Wha-" A resonating snap was heard before he could finish, sending him into a pained panic.

 Releasing my grip on the mana inside his body, I admired my handy work as I had used it to twist his ankle back in place, correcting it in hopes that he could regain his equilibrium and walk beside us.

 These hopes were for not as after a few pained tears and some flexing of his foot he was able to stand on it again, though, from the looks of it, it was highly uncomfortable.

 Balancing Nedo on my shoulder, I reached over and patted him on the shoulder. "Great job, now let's get going before anything else Eldritch shows up, shall we?"

 A simple hum was heard in response as he kept his head down, red creeping up his face.

 I could only sigh and begin to wonder how I was going to get them to agree to what I had in store next.

 "Problems for later I suppose... Yeah," I grinned. "Later."

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 Sighing, I moved my gaze away from the broken window, the hole, and apparent darkness doing it no favor in keeping my attention. Looking to the side, I saw the calm form of Clem, her body gently laid against the chair she slept on, painting a serene and cute picture.

 Eventually, my eyes drifted and had me spotting her bag, its contents sticking out like a sore thumb, with the main benefactor of that being the hand-drawn picture sticking out.

 Looking a bit closer, I couldn't help but laugh as it had almost everyone drawn in messy stick figures, their forms built with thin arms, legs, and some very eye-catching heads.

 Getting up, I went to grab the paper, intending to get a better look at the messy drawing, only to be interrupted by the quiet swish of the cabin door, revealing Kenny as the one behind it.

 'Had he seen the rest of the picture, he would have been met with the gut-wrenching sight of almost everyone in the group dying or in the process of it, with only him and her being the only ones untouched, a single word sitting above his stick form, each painstaking syllable written in blood... Mine.'

 After a few seconds of looking toward what I assumed was Atlantic, he spoke. "Next stop, the Atlantic."

 Sighing, I also turned, following his gaze outside and seeing faint glimpses of the city structure.

 Before I responded, thoughts of the plans I made up with Clementine popped up, their tainting lure tempting me with something new, however, I was quick to dash them, as in hindsight, a boat was the best temporary option to keep Clem safe, even if it seems she doesn't need help most of the time.

 In the end, I kept silent, conflicted to say it with Clem there, even if she was asleep. 

 So, instead, an unspoken message was shared between us, a moment of silence and a minuscule moment of rest, our minds completely letting go of all our problems, however, it went just as fast as it came.

 Throwing my voice, I spoke, "We'll make it through this... I hope.