“Ah. You know. Inmates who broke out of jail. Hooligans. Thugs. Cultists trying to sacrifice everyone to their gods. Psychopaths. Can we…” Alice pointed in a direction. She seemed to be in a hurry.

“Yeah. Sure.” Jeff nodded. “Did you happen to meet any thugs with a black-droplet tattoo on their foreheads?”

“Not exactly…” Alice’s eyes glinted a little in thought.

“If you happened to see them, please let me know.”

“Yep. I’ll remember that. Say… Jeff… You sound like you have some beef with the thugs…”

“If I’m not clear about that, yes. That is in fact correct.” Jeff nodded in affirmation.

Hearing this reply, Alice’s confidence seemed to have returned. “Very well, we stand on common grounds then.”

“Jeff?”

“I’m listening.”

“Ever since the mist descended, the criminals in this world have been more rampant than ever. Civilian need heroes more than ever!”

“Yes…?” Jeff squinted.

“I, Alice Finley, second in command of KMR organization, would like to introduce our organization to you. We are a modern day superhero group. We are devoted to protecting everyday civilians and fighting crime. The community needs you. Will you, a person with awaken abilities uphold your civil duties, and join us! Together, we-”

“Hold on a second, can you tell me what KMR stands for?”

“Knights and Maho-Shoujo of the Round table.”

(Maho-Shoujo: Japanese Magical Girl)

“Uh huh…” Jeff raised his brows and heavily nodded, as if giving sarcastic encouragement. “You are an anime fan, aren’t you.”

“I happened to be the vice-president of the anime club.” Alice stood a little taller.

“I see…” Jeff took in a deep breath. “Before I join this KMR organization of yours, I’d like to learn about the trade a bit more…”

PAUSE: in reality, Jeff was not going to join this KMR thing… He just wanted information about this world.

“Alright, what do you want to know.”

“You said people are awakening abilities?” Jeff asked.

“Yep. From my observations, I’ve seen generally three types of abilities. Physical strengthening, like me. Espers with psychic abilities. And mages who can use the monster drops. But in the KMR Organization, we call mages Maho-Shoujo!”

“Uh huh… And how do mages use the monster drops?” Jeff asked.

“Oh. Just inject mana into the artifact. I’ve been trying to become a maho-shoujo myself. But it’s not really working out…”

“Uh huh… Yes…” Jeff nodded and took out the black stone.

“Wait. Wait. Hold on.”

Jeff looked at the girl in confusion.

“Those are mana stones. Basically single-use mana batteries. These are not artifacts.”

“Ookay.” Jeff raised his brows. “Good to know then.”

Taking out the silver bristles, Jeff took a look at the girl.

Alice gave Jeff an encouraging nod.

“Alright, let’s give it a try.” Holding a bristle in between two fingers, Jeff closed his eyes.

Remembering the training he’d done in the fantasy world, feeling that mysterious energy circulating in his body, Jeff grasped onto that feeling.

Pulling a strand of mana out of his body, Jeff carefully injected this energy into the silver bristle.

Gradually, the bristle started to vibrate and shake, as if it’s eager to leave Jeff’s grasp.

Injecting a bit more mana… That bristle instantly popped out of Jeff’s fingers.

Like a ray of silver light, that bristle sank into a tree.

Bam!

The projectile exploded like a firecracker, leaving a bowl-sized opening on the tree.

Alice’s smile gradually widened seeing this. “So you are a maho-”

“No. I know what that term means.”

“But there’s an anime featuring male-”

“No. No I’m not.” Jeff looked at Alice with serious face.

Jeff was not interested in adding more stained history to his life. Not today.

Alice’s cheeks puffed up.

“Can’t even take a joke…” The girl murmured.

“Anyways, moving onto the next question, you mentioned going back to camp. Is that where everyone is?”

“Noooo? Not exactly…” Alice shot a questioning look at Jeff, as if Jeff had been living under a rock. Clearly, she’s still dissatisfied with Jeff’s response to her offer.

“To stay safe against the lunatics and the monsters, people have gathered in large public facilities, like recreational centers, town halls, shopping malls… You weren’t notified were you.”

“Erhm… Not really…” Jeff’s cheek twitched a little.

What could Jeff say. This was an unfortunate drawback of staying safe inside?

“Erhm. So. What’s up with this camp you were talking about.”

“We are heading to a sanctuary in downtown. Heard the army is there, so it’s probably safer. Got to take chances sometimes, you know.” Alice flicked a brow at Jeff.

The ground rumbled a little.

Having turned on [Beast Instincts], Jeff could clearly sense a gaze on him. Looking into that direction, Jeff could only see the fog though.

“Ah crud.” Alice murmured.

“We’ve got to run…” Without looking back, Alice started sprinting with an egg in her arms.

The ground rumbling intensified.

“You know what’s coming?” Jeff caught up. Looking at the trees brushing by, Jeff took an estimate of their speed. At least 10 Miles per hour. Basically running at the speed of bikes.

“Yeah… It’s a mid-tier Mist Monster.” By the looks of her face, Alice clearly didn’t want to talk about it in details.

Jeff looked at Alice’s giant egg.

“Well… You got to take chances sometimes.” Alice dodged Jeff’s gaze.

Hon-Honk! Hoooon-Hon-Honk!

‘Oh. It’s actually a goose egg.’ Jeff raised his brows.

The ground started to rumble like there is a mild earthquake.

Looking back, it’s a giant goose chasing them. The thing was huge like a truck. Its feathers seemed to have mutated somehow, emitting a fish-scale glow.

This thing flapped its wings as it ran down the street, as if it’s trying to fly. Carelessly slapping its wings around, the trees on the sidewalks snapped down like toothpicks.

“Oh. You’ve got to be kidding.” Seeing this monster entering visible range, Jeff’s cheek twitched a little.

“Yep. That’s what the mist does to monsters.” Alice looked down at her egg with a longing gaze.

“Look. I’ll drop the egg, and we’ll run in separate directions.”

“The goose will most likely chase me.”

“Sorry to get you into this. It wasn’t this fast before.” Alice looked at Jeff with a bitter smile. “Looks like the monsters get stronger over time.”