Seeing Limits

Waking up the next morning, Mark felt a sense of relief wash over him. Knowing his best friend was still alive and kicking lifted his spirits greatly.

"Good morning Mark!" Clye sounded in his head, also feeling enthusiastic after last night.

"Good morning, Clye." Mark returned the greeting as he stretched out and began doing his morning exercise.

After finishing up, Mark, along with Jor and the others, went to eat breakfast and talk about today's plans.

On his way, he peered out the window. He always made sure to check up on the situation outside, gauging the pressing danger. What he saw instantly soured his mood, causing him to increase his pace towards the dining area.

After arriving he sat down with everyone and began their usual discussions.

"You planning to continue heading through the other terminals today, kid?" Rick asked, as he took a large spoonful of eggs into his mouth.

"Yup, same routine as yesterday. Did you get a look at the giant dog I brought back?" Mark asked as he looked at Rick and Ruby.

"The claws and teeth are promising, but I still don't have the tools to make use of them." Rick frowned.

"And the pelt can definitely be used, we just have to process it. I watched a couple videos of how to do it this morning, so I'll get a few others to join me and see if we can't get that done." Ruby smiled as she continued to eat.

"Alright, seems we have things sorted here, for the most part... Oh yeah, if any of the combat teams are interested in clearing the other direction, that would be great. The sooner we secure the airport the better. I took a look outside the terminal this morning and I saw quite a few stage four monsters." Mark looked down as he thought of the slowly calming battle outside.

Once the battle outside was finished, the only possible route for the monsters out there was to move inside and begin their slaughter once again, taking all the unclaimed territory as their own. Most of the monsters inside wouldn't stand a chance against the ones that survived that slaughter fest.

Fear reigned in Mark's heart as he thought of the impending danger. "Hopefully we can gather everyone that retained intelligence together before that happens." Mark sighed and stood up, having finished eating.

"Goodbye everyone." Mark didn't even wait for a reply as he quietly left the dining area.

"That kid is putting way too much burden on his shoulders." Rick rubbed the back of his head as he let out a frustrated groan.

"He is, and it might just get him killed. No one asked him to single handedly clear the airport, but he is just too stubborn. I agree that we need to clear the inside threat before we defend against the outside, but going alone feels a bit much." The old man, who was the leader of the group from yesterday commented, a sorrowful look appeared on his face as he put his own grandson in Mark's shoes.

"The best we can do is support him with everything we've got. I'll get a couple teams to follow behind him and clear the shops of their goods, while the rest of us work on the dog." Ruby said, as she pondered for a while.

"And how about we store the dog meat? I don't really want to eat dog, and I'm sure you guys don't either, but we might have to at some point." Ruby and the others made a slightly disgusted look as she said that, but they all knew that with the way the world was now, food security was important.

"How about we have a few teams enter that dungeon you guys told me about last night? They can kidnap some of the goblins and bind them to use as healing stations in case anything happens. We can also use the dog meat to feed them so we don't have to waste our other food." The old man laid out his idea for the others. When they heard it many nodded in support.

"The only issue is if Jor is needed to be present or not." One of the logistics team members quickly added.

"Ah that little spider... We can run an experiment to see. Even if it is, it's better to have the goblins present anyways to save time. " The old man, finalizing his plan, left the dining room to get ready for the day as well.

...

While everyone was busy discussing things in the dining area, Mark and his party were making their way through terminal three. "Not many stragglers to kill here." Mark pondered as he looked all over.

Once he finished checking, he left and began making his way to terminal four. Clearing out any territory along the way, Mark kept his eyes peeled for any more dungeons. Unfortunately, nothing of interest could be seen.

Upon reaching terminal four, a chill ran down Mark's back as he stared at what appeared to be a ghost in front of him.

{Inspect}

{Creature: Apparition

Core Density: Hollow

Mana Circuit: Beginner (Stage 4)

Info: An apparition on the cusp of evolution, its ghostly claws cause not only cause soul damage, but a slight physical damage now as well.}

"Jor, be careful. This thing can damage your soul." Mark said, readying Vibra.

Without a physical body to attach its webs to, Jor wouldn't be able to help much in this fight. Mark needed to be extremely careful as he clashed with it.

The apparition revealed two sets of deadly black claws, and a malevolent, twisted smile as it flew towards Mark at an incredible speed. It slashed both claws down at Mark's head, as he narrowly dodged them, swinging Vibra up at last second.

The apparition noticed the swing and chuckled, only slightly moving back as it avoided the hit. "Damnit!" Mark cursed, seeing that his attack was useless.

"Jor, use your piercing attack when you see an opening, Clye you too, don't worry about mana consumption!" Mark quickly gave out orders, as he slashed towards the apparition once again, yet just like before, the creature narrowly dodged all his swings.

"Damn, I really need to learn proper swordsmanship!" Mark berated himself as every attack he threw was read and dodged by the still chuckling apparition.

That laughter soon ended though, as magic attacks fired onto the apparition when it revealed an opening after dodging Mark's attacks.

A wail was released, as the creature's face contorted into one of pure anger and resentment.

The apparition began crazily swinging its blackened claws at Mark, who was dodging to the best of his abilities. Still, little scratches appeared every now and then, causing Mark to feel extremely drained.

On the other hand, the creature, having forfeited any form of defense in its rage, became much easier for Mark and the others to hit.

It was soon riddled with holes and cuts, as it pulled back from the fight. It leaned back and released a mind splitting screech.

*SCREEEEEE!*

Mark and Jor nearly collapsed from the mental attack, and the apparition wasn't going to pass up the opportunity. It dove at Mark with avarice, its claws raised high in the air, its sinister smile as wide as could be. Right before it struck though, a large mana bolt fired out from Mark's forehead, straight into the apparition's.

There was no sound for a second, both parties standing before each other almost as if frozen in time. Time waits for no man though, and the apparition, before it could even release a wail, turned into dust before Mark.

"...Thank... you... Clye." Mark forced out as he collapsed on the ground panting.

"No problem partner." Clye chuckled, as she checked on his condition. Seeing he was mostly fine, with only some minor cuts and soul damage, she sighed in relief.

'We have to figure out some way to train Mark's swordsmanship and my magic...' Clye thought, watching as Jor tapped Mark on the forehead to check on him.

"I'm fine Jor, thank you for worrying." Mark smiled as he rubbed its back softly.