Weapon: Calamity Cleaver [Battle Axe]

  Base stat: +40 Attack

  Sub stat: 5% increase in Attack

  Special ability: Fighting Spirit. Increase DMG dealt with each hit by 10% for each Level of Naval Chakra.

  The helpful robot spent a good amount of time explaining the stats to Uruvi. However, she was too busy facing down the Elite boss to pay attention to any of it. At that moment, the only thing that mattered to her was that she had a weapon in her hand and an enemy before her to kill.

  The Pisacha let out a bloodcurdling scream that shook her very bones. But she did not relent. Her grip on the handle tightened, her eyes locked in on the monster, waiting for it to make the first move. She felt fear, but also felt the rush, excited at the battle before her. She felt… alive.

  Time seemed to move slowly. She could see the Pisacha charging towards her in slow motion. ‘Is this a new ability? Or is it just the adrenaline…?’

  It took the initiative, bringing its claws down onto her. But she parried the attack with ease, sending the monster staggering back. She followed it up by swinging the axe, aimed at its head, only to be blocked by its arms. The axe left a deep gash on the back of its arms as it let out a loud cry.

  ‘Let’s hack those off, shall we?’ She grounded her feet, flipping the direction of the axe blade before striking the arms with a Charged swing.

  The monster’s two hands were sent flying into the air as its health bar dropped below the halfway point. It let out another chilling scream before lunging forward with its massive jaw open.

  Uruvi quickly countered it by striking its jaw with an uppercut from her fist. The punch was powerful enough to throw the monster back, slamming into the building’s glass wall. She dashed forward and used her whole-body weight to slam its belly with her knee. The glass behind it cracked, before shattering, letting the two fall off the edge.

  Without any arms, the monster looked helpless. It flailed in the air as Uruvi, who sat atop it, placed her axe on its head. As they crashed into the ground below, the axe split the monster’s head open, sending its health bar to zero.

  She hunched over for a second, gritting through the pain from the fall. Eventually, the pain faded away, and all that was left was the euphoria of victory.

  A patter of footsteps appeared at the doorway. She turned to see the folks from the fourth floor standing behind the glass door, looking at her with a mix of emotions. She straightened her back before turning towards them. “You guys are still here?”

  “Where are we supposed to go?” asked her manager, throwing her hands into the air.

  “Umm… good point,” she replied under her breath.

  ***

  A river of people descended down the stairs, filling the reception area. Uruvi quietly stood in a corner, with her hands crossed, and watched in awe at how many of them were still alive. ‘How big was that place?’

  There were a lot of familiar faces among the crowd, but quite a few were also missing. Everyone looked dull; their eyes were full of anxiety and fear. Most of them were on their phones trying to get a signal, while others were just standing, trying to hold themselves together.

  Her old teammate, Rita, stood beside her. Despite being chatty, she hadn’t uttered a word. She too looked anxious and deeply saddened. Uruvi was never good with words of comfort, but this time around, she had something positive to say.

  “Hey…” she whispered, drawing Rita’s attention. “Thanks for what you said upstairs. It really pumped me up.”

  A soft smile appeared on Rita’s face. “Well… It was fucking awesome…,” she whispered.

  Almost as if on cue, their manager appeared before them and said, “well, are you two going to just stand here by yourself? While we are all trying to figure out what to do?”

  Uruvi never quite understood her manager. She was always tacky and heartless, but she assumed it was only at work. However, it appears she was wrong. Her manager’s personality was being a big pain in the ass.

  “Mandy!” the Marketing head, Geeta, said as she pushed her way through the crowd. “Can you be a little considerate? At least to the person who saved us?”

  “But Geet…!” Mandy began before being shut down almost immediately.

  “Why don’t you help out others? I will handle these two,” said Geeta. She gently pushed her back into the crowd while shaking her head. “I can’t with this one.”

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Uruvi was quite surprised by her reaction. She always thought they got along really well. “Wait… you knew all along? Why didn’t you do anything about it?”

  “Why do you think she is the way she is? Being the daughter of a shareholder has its perks,” Geeta explained.

  Suddenly, everything began to make sense. She let out an audible grunt, earning a soft chuckle from Rita.

  “Anyways. What in the world happened to you?” asked Geeta. She took another look at her and said, “I didn’t know you could do… all of the things you did.”

  “Actually, even I am not sure how I did those things. The only combat training I ever got was from the self-defense classes you had us go through,” said Uruvi.

  Geeta’s eyes lit up for a moment, like she was proud of having set them up for employees.

  “They did not teach us to fight the way you did. Also, where did you get the axe from?” asked Rita.

  “This one?” Uruvi said, lifting the mighty object.

  Geeta panicked and stepped away on seeing it. “What in the world…?”

  Suddenly, everyone in the crowd was looking at her.

  “Uruvi, do you have any idea what is going on?” asked Geeta.

  “A little. But I am not sure if it will make sense to you guys,” said Uruvi.

  “Right now, if you told me that Kaliyug was coming to an end, I would believe you,” said Rita.

  Uruvi was left speechless by her choice of words. The end of Kaliyug is the prophesied end of the world according to Hindu Mythology.

  Rita caught wind of Uruvi’s shocked expression. “What? Am I right?”

  Uruvi spent a good chunk of an hour trying to explain to the people what was going on. The only evidence she had was her axe, because neither could they see what she was seeing, nor could they hear the robot. However, in the end, it made no difference to them. They seemed just as lost and hopeless as before.

  “So, what now? Are we all just going to die?” asked someone from the crowd.

  “I don’t know how to answer that,” said Uruvi.

  “What about our families or others?” asked another person.

  “I would rather not answer that,” said Uruvi.

  “What are we going to do now?” asked someone.

  Uruvi thought for a few seconds and said, “I honestly have no clue.”

  She felt like she was digging herself deeper and deeper unnecessarily. She could feel their judgmental eyes looking down at her as if she were responsible for everything that was happening. ‘Robot! Help me out! What the fuck am I supposed to do here?’

  “Okay, we need to stop,” said a young man, who literally stood out of the crowd. “Just cause she knows something doesn’t mean she has all the answers.”

  Uruvi didn’t know who he was, but she wanted to bow down to him for saving her.

  “The tutorial area has been cleared of all threats. The place can be marked as Safezone,” said the robot.

  ‘Safezone? What is a Safezone?’ Uruvi thought.

  “A Safezone is an area that is resistant to monster attacks. It acts as a hub for the contestants to load up supplies and connect with other contestants. It can also act as a safe space for any survivors.”

  ‘That is awesome! Do it!’

  “Warning! Every Safezone needs an anchor. A manager who can handle the logistics of running the space. Shall I mark you as anchor for the Safezone?” asked the robot.

  Suddenly, she was drained of all the positive energy that had been built up. “I am not doing that!” she said out loud.

  Everyone looked at her in confusion. “You… won’t do what?” asked Geeta.

  Uruvi let out a dull sigh. She explained to them what the robot told her, and just as she was getting to the end, the robot added a few more details.

  “Any being can act as an anchor. This duty can be passed on from you to the individual, who will be inducted into the system,” said the robot.

  She couldn’t believe her luck, but it was perhaps always meant to work like that. She passed on the new information to others. “So… yeah. Anyone, not just me, can act as an anchor.”

  Everyone looked at everyone else’s face, before one of them turned to Uruvi and said, “why don’t you be the anchor? You seemed the best fit for the job.”

  “I am not. I have been fighting my way up, not handling logistics. I am not fit to do it,” said Uruvi. She had no desire to tell them that she was not planning on sticking around and helping them.

  The tension in the room began to grow thick. All eyes were on her, and neither Rita nor Geeta said anything in her defense. She didn’t expect them to either.

  “Fine,” said one of the individuals, “I will do it.”

  Uruvi recognized the man. He was the CTO of the company, Raghu. He stepped before her and said, “what do I need to do?”

  “Robot?” asked Uruvi.

  “Please hold your hand out,” said the robot.

  She did as she was told. A golden light appeared on her palm, illuminating the space around her. It appeared like others could see it too, as she saw their eyes light up. The light gathered and solidified into the shape of a small black box. She held the piece up, and Raghu looked at it curiously.

  “What do I do with it?” he asked.

  “Take it,” she said.

  Just as he was about to touch it, he withdrew his hand and asked, ”you said you were a contestant. Will this register me as a contestant as well?”

  “Robot?” asked Uruvi.

  “Negative. Safezone anchors are not marked as contestants by default.”

  “The robot says no.”

  He nodded his head and tried to take the cube. The second he touched it, the box disintegrated into bright light, leaving the audience and Raghu confused. She paused for a few seconds when she noticed the expression on his face changed.

  “Whoa!” he said out loud.

  Uruvi saw a screen pop up before him, and another disembodied voice began speaking, “Greetings, Raghu. We formally welcome you to the system.”

  Raghu’s awestruck face quickly morphed into one of panic. “Who… who said that?” he began looking around for the speaker.

  “Relax. That is the Grand Advisor… I think.” The voice definitely sounded different. This one had a slight feminine pitch and tone to it.

  “I am not the Grand Advisor. I am Raghu’s assistant,” said the voice.

  “Whoa! Can you hear me?” asked Uruvi.

  “Affirmative,” said the voice.

  “Yup. It is your assistant,” replied Uruvi.

  “Assistant? You… can… understand… me?” asked Raghu.

  “Affirmative. You need not modulate your voice to speak with me. I am fully capable of understanding your diction,” said the voice.

  Raghu threw a surprised expression at Uruvi.

  Uruvi nodded and said, “sassy.”

  “Shall I officially mark the building as a Safezone with you as the anchor?” asked the voice.

  “Approved… I guess,” said Raghu.

  “Thank you for confirming,” said the voice. A golden light surrounded the building, forming a translucent wall. The crowd looked on in awe at the magical stuff happening around them.

  “The building has been officially marked as a Safezone. All the residents are safe from the threats that loom in the world outside,” said the voice.

  A sign of relief appeared on Raghu's face, while Uruvi remained unsure of how safe it really was.