The Dead Zone Sovereign

Chapter 3: The Gathering of Shadows

Valen woke up to complete silence. It was a change from the loud winds and screaming that he had heard when he first got to this world. He did not get up away. Instead he kept his eyes closed. Checked how his body was feeling.

His muscles felt really weak like they had been replaced with wires. He was extremely tired from using up all his stamina.. Beneath the tiredness he felt something new and strange. The level-ups from the Miasma Hound had made his body stronger fixing the damage in his lungs and healing the burns on his skin.

Valen opened his eyes. The sky above the broken fortress was still a mess of purple smoke.. Down in the courtyard the air was clean and fresh. It was like a little bubble in a bad world. In the middle of the stone floor a big purple crystal was pulsing with a light. It had the stuff from the air inside it.

Valen sat up. Checked his status.

Host: Valen

Class: Utility (Defective)

None

Level: 4

Health: 78/100

Mana: 0/0

Stamina: 12/100

His stamina was coming back slowly. His health was getting better. He looked around the courtyard. The old stone walls were worn out from the air. To his left a broken stable was a pile of old wood. In front of him the main keep had iron doors that were slightly open.

He stood up. His legs felt a little shaky at first.. Then they felt stronger. He had a roof over his head, air to breathe and a powerful weapon on the ground next to him.. Just surviving was not enough. He needed to know more and be safe.

Valen went to the purple crystal. He put out his hand. He did not touch it until he checked what it was.

Item: Core of Concentrated Miasma (Grade: Earth)

Description: A bad crystal made from the airs toxicity. If it breaks it will make the air bad again. It can be used to hurt things or to power some machines.

Valen thought it was like a bomb. He did not want to carry it around or risk it breaking. He put his hand on the crystal. Thought about making it lighter.

The crystal felt like it weighed nothing. He picked it up. Took it to the main keep. He needed a place to store his things.

Inside the keep it was dark and dusty. Valen found a room and put the crystal and his other things in it. Then he started to explore the fortress. It was built into a mountain so the back was safe.. The front gate was broken and anyone could get in.

Valen needed to fix the gate. He did not have any tools. What he could do was change the way things were. He went to the gate and saw the old iron and wood. He put his hand on the iron. Thought about making it new again.

The iron was clean and strong again. Valen did the same with the wood making it hard and dense. Soon he had a pile of materials.

Now he needed to build a gate. He could not do it the way so he had to use his special ability. He put the iron and wood together. Thought about making them one thing.

The iron and wood became one piece. Valen was tired. He was happy with what he had done. He was changing the way the world was.

As he stood there he heard a noise. It was not an animal. Something walking. Valen looked through a hole in the gate. Saw a figure coming towards him. It was big and humanoid. It did not look right. It had horns and silver marks on its skin.

The figure was a demon. Valen had heard that demons were bad and wanted to hurt people.. This one did not look like it wanted to fight. It looked hurt and tired.

The demon came into the air and fell down. Valen waited for a while then he went to the demon. He was careful in case it was a trap. He looked at the demon. Thought about what it was.

Target: Elite Vanguard Scout (Demon Race)

Level: 24

Status: Critical (Severe Blood Loss, Miasma Deprivation, Internal Trauma)

Health: 12/250

Threat Level: High (Deactivated due, to unconsciousness)

Valen saw that the clean air was actually hurting the demon. It was not used to breathing air and it was making the demon sick.

Valen looked down at the demons face. The demons face was really close to him now. He could see that it was very sharp and it looked like a person, except for the horns and the grey skin that looked like ash. The demon looked like a man, maybe a little older than Valen and his jaw was tight like he was in a lot of pain even though he was not awake.

If Valen left the demon here the demon would die. If he took the demon out into the fog, the animals that lived in the fog would eat him.

Valen looked back at the keep where he kept his stone the miasma core. He had to make a decision. The Solarian Empire did not want him because he was not what they thought a hero should be. They told him that the world was simple. Now Valen was looking at a monster that was dying and it was suffering in the world that was supposed to be its home.

Valen said to himself I do not take orders from kings anymore.

He grabbed the demon by the shoulder that was not hurt. The demon was heavy much heavier than a human. Valen had to use his skill to move him.

He said, Extract and he made the demon weigh nothing. Then he dragged the demon across the courtyard and into the keep. He put the demon on a flat stone and then he ran back to get the special stone, the miasma core.

He brought the glowing stone over to the demon and he put it near the demons head. He did not want the air to fill the whole room so he had to control it.

He put his hand on the stone. He said, Extract and he made the bad air come out of the stone but only a little bit, just over the demons face.

Soon as the bad air touched the demons skin the demon started to get better. The demons breathing slowed down. His body stopped shaking.

It was working the demon was getting better. The bad air was helping him.

Valen sat down on a crate. He put his sword next, to him. He had saved the demon. Now he had a place to stay. He had changed the way things were. Now he just had to wait and see what the demon would do when he woke up. Would the demon say thank you. Would he try to kill Valen.