CHAPTER 34: VETERANS OF THE ASHROAD

By the time the Ashroad released them, they were different people.

The path after the Flytrap ambush became quieter, not because the dangers had vanished but because they had finally learned to read them.

The shimmering loops, the resin glues, the heat mirages that bent you back into the same lane, they spotted it all now.

Holt pointed out the subtle tilts in the glass, the places where dust ran wrong, and even the way mirage-pillars leaned like crooked compasses.

As for Ethan, his improvisation became even better to fit every situation here. The Wheel dropped the right improvisations at the right times, from short nails to pin straight paths, to tiny beacons that bled the illusions apart.

And for the first time, they walked through the Ashroad like veterans instead of prey.

The system confirmed it soon enough when it chimed again, cold but honest. Holt’s notification was different than the others.

DING!

~----~

[Milestone Achieved: Heavy Hitter!]

You managed to neutralize an E-Rank Predator as an Unranked! Despite the help from your comrades, this is still a commendable achievement.

[Congratulations! You have advanced to F Rank!]

[Stat Panel Unlocked:]

~----~

Holt froze mid-step when the panel opened in front of him.

He didn’t smile, he never did, but something in his shoulders eased, some weight he’d carried alone. "About damn time," he muttered, closing the panel and slinging his Rifle as he revealed his achievement to the group.

That made him the fifth Awakener in the group. Just Mira remained Unranked, apart from Travis who was not an Awakener.

Mira smiled when Jonas clapped Holt on the back, but her eyes lingered on her own empty space. She never complained, but the silence said enough.

Reid’s near-death experience forced their pace down. He walked pale and stiff, his rifle carried by Jonas, his weight lightened by Kara whenever the road tilted too steeply. He hated it, jaw locked tight, but he said nothing.

Mira fussed with him quietly, drawing breezes to keep the worst of the sour air away. She never admitted it was care, calling it ’wind direction checks’, but Reid’s eyes softened each time she did it.

Their speed wasn’t as fast, not after Reid’s injury, but they were alive and moving, and in the Ashroad, that was a victory.

Night eventually came like a shutter slammed down. Heat bled into cold, and the mirage-pillars glowed faintly like glass filaments. They stopped at a corner where rubble and a twisted signpost offered cover.

"We don’t sleep exposed again," Reid rasped.

Ethan improvised a tarp that shimmered faintly with the same distortion as the road, bending their outlines to look like more debris.

Holt dusted resin powder in a wide circle to mask scent trails. Mira spun the air into a slow, constant loop, scattering sound and grit.

By the time they were done, the camp looked like nothing more than another scar on the Ashroad. Their camouflage was near perfect, and it was the best against the creatures prowling the Ashroad.

And for the first time since stepping onto the black road, they felt hidden.

Travis sprawled against a rock, his kitchen knife tapping the glass. "So, what now? Just stare at each other until sleep takes us? Because I vote we remember what fun used to be."

Kara snorted. "Fun died with the old world."

"Then we necro it," Travis said with a chuckle. "Let’s play a game of truth or dare. Fail the dare, you tell us something from before the Rift. I’ll start."

Jonas laughed. "You’re insane. But fine, truth."

Travis thought for a heartbeat before looking at Jonas with a mischievous grin on his face. "What’s the most embarrassing thing you did before the Rift?" He asked.

Jonas leaned back, a grin bright on his face. "Well, most embarrassing thing... I think it’s when I got knocked out in thirty seconds at my first pro fight".

"You know, my mom was in the front row," He mimicked dropping face-first onto the glass in shame. "I’m telling you man, that was a career highlight."

Even Kara smirked at that. "I always guessed you fought in the MMA or something, but to think you had such a history".

Kara took the next round. "Truth," she said, sharp but curious.

"Before the Rift, what were you doing with your life?" Jonas asked.

"Paramedic school," Kara admitted.

She twirled her spear idly. "I quit two weeks before finals. Told myself I was too good for it, but truth? I was just terrified of failing." She chuckled dismissively but then her lips pressed thin. "Well, turns out failing school would’ve been the easy part."

No one teased her.

Then Holt, dry as gunpowder, joined. "Dare," he said

"Sing something," Travis said with a grin.

Holt raised a brow. "Failed," he said flatly. "Truth, I served in the Army as a recon marksman. I was married once, but it didn’t stick." He leaned back, eyes on the rope line. "That’s enough nostalgia."

Silence followed, heavy with things unsaid.

Then Ethan, shifting uncomfortably finally said. "Truth."

"What’d you do before?" Kara pressed.

Ethan sighed. "Well, I’m a grad student, Engineering. No money, no prospects. I spent more time staring at textbooks and wondering if this was all my life was gonna be. I did odd jobs here and there".

"I wanted... something exciting." He laughed bitterly. "I guess I should’ve been more specific."

Travis chuckled and finally raised his hand. "Fine, truth. I was a line cook, community college dropout. I dreamed of Michelin stars, but the closest I got was overcooking pasta at Frankie’s on Fifth."

The others laughed.

He shrugged. "Guess I’m still feeding people, just less appetizing fare."

Eyes finally turned to Mira. She tucked her legs in, smiling faintly. "I’m still Unranked," she said softly. "Maybe when I climb, I’ll tell you who I was."

Jonas complained, but to no avail. That ended the game. The laughter faded, leaving them quiet, closer than before.

They set watches in three-hour shifts; Jonas, Kara, Holt, Ethan, and then Mira. Reid was barred from the rotation as he was forced to rest. He hated it, but none of them yielded.

As the night pressed on, night sounds pressed close, from low growls to resin clicks, wings brushing air, but nothing pierced their camouflage.

For once, danger walked past them, blind.

Jonas took his shift pacing, humming a tune no one recognized. When it was her turn, Kara sat silent, spear upright, eyes never closing.

At Holt’s turn, his Rifle never dipped, scanning invisible lines in the road.

When it was Ethan’s turn, he whispered to his Wheel, hands trembling as improvisations flickered faintly in his mind like cards in a deck. Mira, when her turn came, kept the wind constant, carrying her quiet song with it.

At dawn they broke camp.

The tarp dissolved, Holt’s dust scattered, Mira’s wind unwound. Reid walked steadier now though he was still pale, but he refused help now.

The Ashroad thinned as they pressed west. Mirage-pillars fell behind, and glass lanes broke into cracked asphalt. The hiss softened, the heat bent less cruelly. By noon, they crossed the last fused scar and stepped onto earth again.

They stopped on a ridge. Below them sprawled a city.

Not living, not whole, but still a city.

Skyscrapers leaned jagged, some collapsed entirely. Streets were torn by Rift scars, filled with black water or ash. Smoke curled faintly in the distance, stubborn fires that had never gone out. Windows glinted like a thousand watching eyes.

The system pinged faintly.

DING!

~----~

[New Zone Entered: Ruined Urban Core]

~----~

Travis stared, wide-eyed. "Out of the frying pan..."

Reid lifted his Rifle with trembling arms, eyes narrowing. "And into the furnace," he said, dark humor in his tone.

The Ashroad lay silent behind them, but the ruins waited ahead.