Chapter 102: Last bit of free time

I unequip my gear on the side of the steady flowing river. I'm now wearing nothing, I find it both embarrassing and freeing to be naked in the middle of the woods. There are no prying eyes so I toggle my wings on, they are a part of me to. It'll be responsible to wash them as well, I run my fingers along them as I move them in front of me. Despite them being very hard in certain situations they are super soft when I'm relaxed. I flex them and they harden to an incredible degree, they work like a muscle. That's pretty cool, I wonder what else I can do other than what's been described to me. I straight them out and shuffle the wings to make the feathers line up like blades. I bet they are fantastic weapons, I wonder how effective they are against enemies weaker or the same strength as me. I pull up their description again to see if it implies other abilities.

Everything I read only says 2% damage of the total health pool, perhaps the weaker the enemy is the stronger the ability gets. The only way I'll find out is if when I test it, and that's going to be a few more hours. I have delayed getting in the cold water long enough, its time to cleanse myself. I bring my feet into the water first and its cold, like very cold. I don't like this one bit, but I'm a hygienic man and that means I need to clean myself. I begin to walk forward and the cold climbs up my body, I stop right before I reach my family jewels. I take a deep breath and move forward, the shock makes me jolt and shiver. My wings flutter like a bird as my body does as well. Ripples in the water and small waves are created from the movement of my wings.

I keep walking until I make it up to my chest, my wings are halfway submerged at this point. I stop and get used to the cold as best as I can. Its making me shiver, but its helping the soreness of my body. I heard that ice bath treatment is good, but this is unexpected. While uncomfortable, it is a nice balance between pain and relaxation. I'm now used to this depth and I go even further in. I sink my entire body in wings included, its a strange feeling to have the cold grip my wings. I stay under and try to get used to the cold, soon I come up for air and shake the water out of my jet black hair. The water is so clear and clean in Ancients World. Its not polluted and murky, its what earth should've looked like.

I scrub my armpits to try an clean them, I move to the dirtiest places on the body and give a thorough cleaning. To bad I don't have any soap, wont have any for awhile. After making sure my entire body is clean I'm finally satisfied and make my way out of the river. My wings are good and wet as well, I flap them gently to help dry them. That just blows cool air all over and makes me shiver to the bone. "That wasn't a good idea..." I mumble to myself as I wrap my wings around me in an attempt to warm me up. It works better than standing in the open air, I see that my campfire is about to die to I toss some wood on it. I stand in front of the warm heat, this is much better than being wrapped in my damp wings.

I stand in front of the fire and rotate my body for a good hour. I'm now completely dry, I get my clothes from the side of the river and put them on. While I cant say I enjoyed it, I can say it wasn't as bad as I thought it was. I'm as clean as I can get right now, and its nice to get the smell and sweat off. I've been in this one place for awhile, and my instincts are telling me to get a move on. I put out the campfire and put the extra meat into my inventory. I'll be sure to finish it later, leaving it here would be a waste. I get to a little opening in the trees and flex my wings, I take off with power and reach the clouds fast like always. I've had my wings out more and more frequently, the more I use them the better I'm getting at accepting them as a part of me. 

Its strange to have 2 new body parts after all, and the more I have them out the more I forget that I still have to turn them off. When you get so used to something sometimes you forget things like that. Well, I'll always remember to turn them off in public, but in private I'll leave them out. They are weapons as well as shields. Its safe to have them out when I'm alone, and you can never be to safe in this type of environment. I fly for several more hours at a nice speed just enjoying the cruise, the sun has descended and the moon is out. I stare at the beautiful stars and moon since I'm so close, my thoughts are interrupted as an announcement happens.

[World-wide Announcement: Monsters will start spawning in 2 hours! All players will have a countdown on their player interface! Be sure to help each other! The first few hours will be rough until you slay enough for them to leave you alone! Be sure to build defenses if you intend to stay in one place!]

From the sounds of it these monsters will be attacking the players right off the bat. I wonder if the same will happen to me, I bet panic is ensuing with only 2 hours left. After these past 10 hours all you can do is make final preparations and pray that it'll be an easy fight. I doubt it will though, many will die and resurrect at the cathedrals and join the fight again. If I die out here I wonder where I'll resurrect, probably at the closest cathedral. I should enjoy the time I have left till my fighting begins, who knows how many I'll have to kill before they leave me alone. Many will migrate if they cant defend their position, and that's a smart thing. Many players desperate for levels and gear will push themselves to far. That will end up being the reason they die, and have to make up that progress.

I'm sure that my leveling speed will be much faster, but that's only in places I know. All this is unfamiliar, so I wont be leveling up fast. I'll be leveling better, but it will take time to get used to which enemies are worth the time or not. I don't need a party to kill one monster either, and I cant imagine what my damage and health will be once I get my mana aura. I'll truly be unreachable by other players once I get my hands on it, and I'll be able to contend with powerful NPC's in tier 2 and 3. Quality matters, and mine will be the best. I wonder what type of monsters will be spawning, will they be the ones we see regularly. It really is up to the system how this will play out, I hope that it goes better than I think it will. As Cera continues to fly in the night, the rest of the Adamo family is trying to stay safe. Violet is trying to keep a cool head about her, and she is doing rather well.

The area we showed up in isn't that populated with players, all together there are around 25,000 thousand in our group. There are other groups in the city, but there aren't enough supplies for one giant group. So the self elected leaders decided to divide the people into groups of 25,000 and have us set up in different strategic locations in the city. They made sure each group was balanced with enough strong fighters, so everyone has a fair chance. "I'll be sure that Marcus isn't close to the fighting. I don't want him experiencing death yet. It would be to much for him..." I tell my husband what I plan to do, Marcus is one of the youngest kids left. I have talked to many mothers and fathers who have lost their babies and toddlers after everything that's happened. 

Many tried to kill themselves, but they just end up coming back to life. Talk about a hell, I know I shouldn't think like this. If my kids were dead, I'd end my own life. There would be no reason left to live, I couldn't imagine their pain right now. "That's perfect honey. Hailey and I will be support for the front lines, be sure to stay high in the skyscrapers in case the parameter is broken." My husband is a strong man, and I have complete trust in him. I kiss the top of my sons head as I carry him to the skyscraper, he is getting so big. He is almost to big to carry anymore. All I can do is be ready for the worst, and I'll do everything in my power to make sure no harm comes to him.