Isah

KiRA could not find any cabs when he started moving towards the other side of the city. He lived a ten-minute subway ride away from where he was headed but with no one taking anyone anywhere.

After the disastrous tutorial, it was all simply a mess. 

Everywhere he looked, he could see dead bodies of the monsters as well as humans– bodies half chewed by monsters, bodies covered in purple color, bodies that were already rotting. 

The devastation was far worse than what he had witnessed in a long while. The fact that all of this was real still did not feel Real to him. 

There were monsters still roaming the area, but he took care of them. 

Since most of them were low-level beasts, with their current level difference the tutorial monsters were not that big a deal anymore. 

He had his strings already, but along with that, he had also obtained a useful weapon. 

[{ This bunch seems to be the last one, master. }]

[{ "Alright!" }]

A formless sword– a sword without a blade, a guarded hilt covered in a dwarven pattern. They were rare but famous weapons among the players on the lower floors since they changed forms according to what the players wanted. 

If they wanted a short sword, they would manifest it. If they wanted a greatsword, then a larger sword would manifest. 

While they cannot change the hilt and grip, the blade changes according to the will of the player, making it a convenient weapon. 

-Perrrrrrrr— flipt! 

The sword changed into a whip-like sword, one that dealt more damage to the enemies than the string could. 

It was sturdier, easy to handle, and while it was weak as hell, it was still something he could use for the first few floors. 

"Phew!" Retracting the sword with a jerk, he deactivated it, and the blue light of the sword disappeared the next moment. 

Around him was a pile of goblin corpses, covered in deep wounds, or cut in pieces by the unique sword without any particularly sharp blades. 

"Let's move." He had almost reached the neighborhood in a low-profile area, so he finished the cleanup and walked towards the other side. 

"Looks like there's something going on in there as well." He could hear some commotion as soon as he saw the buildings at the end of the road. 

The neighborhood was made up of one- to two-story houses. The houses were also owned by individuals who had been living here for a long time. 

Within their city, this was an old neighborhood, a place that the people of the main city area also called slums. However, the place wasn't particularly a slum. 

While the stench of monster bodies was still present here, the roads here looked much cleaner than what he had seen while coming here. 

The commotion coming from the inner area of the neighborhood was something unique though, so he went ahead and saw something he had not seen ever since he started walking here. 

"KRAAAA!" 

"You bastard! Come here!" 

"Mister Kim! Don't leave a single one alive!" 

"Auntie Jenny! Hit that one with your pan! With the pan!" 

The residents of the place had gathered in their plaza. There were a few houses here, in the center of the plaza, and children were all watching from these houses. 

The elders and parents of these children were gathered together to fight a hoard of creatures. 

"Brother Benny! One is coming from the left! Two more are coming from that side, Grandma Kei!" 

The children who were on the higher floors of some three-story houses seemed to be observing the entire neighborhood. The monsters that were present in the entire locality also seemed to be being monitored by these children. 

On the ground, the elders were fighting the monsters. They were using household items as weapons, and their united spirits and near impeccable teamwork helped them defend themselves. 

[{ Wow, master. Look at these people~! }]

The elders and parents, even young adults of the house, were fighting the creatures. The ones who were physically stronger took the role of the tanks. 

Those who possessed skills were assigned different positions around the area. It was almost like someone had placed them across the 'battlefield' in an effective manner. 

That wasn't the only thing either. The reason they were fighting in such unity was not just the trust that they had in one another. The reason was something deeper, something that one knowing a certain individual among them would know obviously. 

{ "Kai! Took you long enough!" }

Standing in the very center of the entire group, covered in a certain purple light, she was holding out her hand with a small purple crystal floating before them. 

Her dark hair was a complete mess right now. There were dark circles under her pretty purple eyes as well, so he could tell she hadn't slept for a while now. 

"Is…" She was the reason this neighborhood was standing strong. She was the reason people were so united right now. 

Not just her powers, which were one of a kind in themselves, but also her relationship with all the people here made this place far safer than a high-security security zone. 

{ "What are you doing there just standing like that! Help out! Dummy!" }

Her sharp face was the first reason he fell for her. She was cute, adorable even. But that wasn't the only thing that made her so special. 

She was someone who saw multiple spectrums of an element, someone who was true to herself– something that he found extremely attractive. 

Even right now, he didn't know why but seeing her like that made him uniquely happy. 

"Uni, help out the others." 

"Vivi~!" (Yes~!)

He moved quickly. So unexpectedly quickly that none of the children who had seen him coming here could track his movements. 

-Perrrrrrrr— flipt!

But that was just the beginning as the residents heard a loud snapping sound of a whip the very next moment. 

-Thud. Thud. Thud. 

Following the loud snapping noise, the bodies of the creatures that were surrounding the neighbors were either cut in half or pierced by the tip of the whip. 

His fine control over the weapon stunned the people and children. Even his beloved… 

{ "What the hell?" }

Was speechless at the sight that she was witnessing right now. 

"Help the people in the back, Uni." 

She was stunned to see his current powers, but what surprised her more was the white bird with golden feathers, a being that strangely reminded her of someone that she had known in the past. 

{ "Is that… Unity?" }

She didn't know how she was here, but if it was the Kai she knew, this wasn't impossible. In fact, this was something she should have expected already. 

"Hehehe." But seeing her stunned face made him delighted. 

That right there, was something worth living for…