Chapter 21: Monster Core

Since the apocalypse occurred, many things have changed. Additional laws have been added in the world, and conventional physics doesn't work the same as before the apocalypse. Billions of people have died, and hundreds of millions more continue to perish due to the great changes this new era has introduced to reality. The continuous aggressive mutations of many beings in the world, along with the emergence of new ones that could only be referred to as aliens, would normally curb the population of humanity down until no human was left.

That's not what happened. The remaining survivors have adapted despite not gaining the same advantage as the other species of this planet. Compared to the other species that benefitted from the mysterious law that forced them to evolve aggressively, humans only gained powers after they recovered from their fevers. Even with that small advantage, they managed to hold onto their lives, creating communities for themselves so they could increase the chance of their survival. Even when the land itself became hostile, humans seemed to have awakened their dormant instincts for survival as they quickly adapted to these harsh changes.

Those who lived in deserts got used to the sudden increase in temperature. Even with the mutations of the cactuses and the sand itself that seemed to have gained sentience on its own, they managed to convert such into their own sanctuary and used these mutated cactuses as both their sustenance and to quench their thirst. As for those who live in cold climates, they use snow to disguise their basements and use the abundant snow as their alternative for water, heating it up with the mutated trees that they chopped carefully through their own knowledge and survival senses to deal with any unknown bacteria.

To those who lived in the city, they learned that fire was the weakness of most flesh monstrosities that emerged from the streets. They made barricades out of drum barrels and burned their contents, which was enough to repel most zombies. They added metal fences and made improvised sharpened pikes from different cleaning utensils and farming tools just to prevent other types of monsters who weren't that scared of fire. If they lacked water, then they would make their own through their own awakened powers. If they lacked food, then they would plant their own or hunt other plant-type monsters to eat them.

Humanity has been put on the brink of extinction, but they still persevered. More than two months have passed since the apocalypse happened, and most elderly and children have died, including those who have disabilities or were too weak to handle this kind of life. Only the able and the competent were the remaining ones, and these people learned a lot since this cursed era started. Death was still common even at this time, and it wasn't weird for at least one or two survivors from a survivor camp to die every week, but it was obvious that would happen because everyone was still trying to grasp the absurd changes that occurred in this reality.

Even with the uncertainty and gloom that always hit the people around here, they kept enduring, trying to discover more, and creating plans and countermeasures with what they learned from their new surroundings. Not everyone was like that. Most were satisfied just being able to survive, though there were a few who still wanted to learn more, thinking about the future of their family, their species, and the entire world itself.

These types of people were important to a community. Even if they awakened with combat powers, if a person had the intelligence to learn a lot from this new world, then they were irreplaceable by many communities. Most leaders of the community desired them, because without their knowledge, they would be blind with their new climate that kept changing without their control. They needed all the minds they could get and to learn everything they could do.

Most people who have survived till this time knew that they needed it. They have experienced this hell for two months now. The stubborn people who held onto thoughts that it was enough and those who were naive enough to simply return to their old lives even with the world as it was all died. They couldn't survive in this kind of environment where even the molds themselves evolved aggressively and infected those who were foolish enough to get close to them. These people haven't survived this long just to die stupid deaths like that. They used their own wits, strength, and even their luck just to get this far.

So they knew that knowledge was important. Most survivors wanted it. Unlike the loners, who were quite a rarity in this age, most communities would protect people who could learn more about their surroundings. They could discover whether a plant was safe to eat, the behavior of the monsters in their environment, and even how to use the stuff these monsters dropped upon their death.

Unlike other countries, America still has a functioning government. Even with the majority of their states being overrun by monsters that emerged from everywhere, they salvaged enough of their population and managed to unite as many of their citizens, along with the fast response team of their military that they managed to retain a few of their states. The majority of the western states have been lost, and only a few from the eastern states remained in their hands. Maryland became the frontline for their war against the monsters. Due to that, their governing body was moved to Philadelphia.

They turned the Hall of Independence into their new administrative building and were currently sheltering the president there along with many other senators. Just a few weeks ago, their president got the Apocalypse Fever, and they have been guarding him since. They knew about the Apocalypse Fever. Based on their research, it was a phenomenon in which their body tried to cope with the sudden evolution in their body, which gave them psionic capabilities that most people called awakened powers.

The more time the fever stayed within them, the more potent that evolution was. The scientists and researchers they have on hand theorized that it might be that humans have a very different genetic makeup compared to other species in the world and that the expression of their evolution turned into superpowers instead of horrific mutations to the body. Most people accepted this theory, so Apocalypse Fevers were widely welcomed by any community.

All of that was useful, but that is all old news that most people learned in the first month of the apocalypse. The US Government, a union of multiple large survivor camps around America that followed the president, who currently held Maryland, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and Vermont, has approximately a hundred million survivors scattered around many states. It might be surprising, but the US Government held a fifth of the remaining human survivors on this planet. This was due to the crisis that suddenly hit them, and most people immediately followed the orders of the president after they swiftly dealt with most of the problems around their country, along with returning some semblance of their normal life even with the constant need to fight for their lives.

Due to that, unlike other survivor camps, most people were so united that they forgot their own petty hatred for each other. Political agendas, racism, and other types of discrimination were temporarily forgotten as they were more focused on the fact death was looming in their corner. They had to work together regardless of whether they had opinions of their own. As for the people who just couldn't move on from whatever ideology they held that became detrimental to the survival of many, all of them were dead. They just had no time to dwell on that because if they did, the monsters lurking around would sweep them up abruptly, and that meant the death of not just the idiot who couldn't let go of their own opinions but also casualties not just to their group but also to their base itself.

No survivors would let such idiocy occur in their base. Anyone naive enough to do so was already dead before the second month ended.

Anyway, with this much personnel in their camp, most people could focus more on their roles and not just be stuck defending themselves from whatever horror was looming beyond their horizons. A unified research group has been made so they could learn more about anything in this world, and they finally made a breakthrough at one of the new things they discovered in this apocalypse.

The Monster Cores!

These crystals were considered a lump of psionic energy that solidified within the body of the monster. It only appeared on a higher variant of a monster who either had too much strength on their own, had ridiculous size, or was so incredibly intelligent that they could compete with even the greatest minds of humanity. These cores were important. They were a curious resource that had some uses not just for their mental energy but also as a great energy source for new technology.

And finally, after a few weeks of studying it, one of their researchers, who has awakened with a power suited for this kind of work, has made it.

"This is it!"

Aiden Grant raised the fruit of their research in her fingers. It was a white capsule with a subtle glow on it. A capsule that she has been researching since a month ago. Since the discovery of the Monster Cores, the President immediately ordered that they focus most of their resources on researching every use they could get from them. His reasoning was that it might be the most important resource in this world, and exploiting that resource might give them a chance to fully return to their normal life.

Aiden Grant was appointed as the head researcher for this endeavor due to the ability she has awakened within. She has awakened with the power to understand any objects she laid her eyes on, an ability that most survivor camps greatly treasured. With this power, along with other researcher groups who also awakened with a power suitable for research, they gained enough understanding and managed to create a successful product from it within a single month.

"Amazing! We finally did it!" One of the researchers said in joy.

This capsule they were holding was the first ever successful magical pill made in this world. It was a pill that could increase the recovery of the mental energy of a person.

A revolutionary item that could help Psychics, the awakened people who used psionic energy to use their powers!

____________________

President Miles Dalton listened to the report of his secretary as he lay on the bed within the specially prepared office for him. He was still feeling weak and dizzy due to his fever, but he could at least process what she was saying so long as he laid his head on the bed and didn't move as much.

"Good. Tell the researchers to continue on searching for more uses of those monster cores, and tell the others to start mass production of the Psionic Capsule."

He was decisive in his orders, which his secretary wasn't surprised by. Miles has been known for immediately moving onto his agenda without hesitation, and while some weren't a fan of his bold decisions, he still has a high approval rating because most of his decisions improved the state of the country one way or another. Many people loved him, so when the apocalypse occurred, he was immediately protected by his guards and later was immediately secured by the military. Most citizens from other emerging communities around the states quickly followed his orders after they managed to repair the radio towers that could at least connect to other states.

"Understood." The secretary nodded before she left.

After she left, the president was left to his own thoughts. He doesn't necessarily find his state to be that exciting. It's not just because he felt lethargic that he hated it. No, there was a reason why, even when it had been a long time, he wasn't that excited to learn what power he could get.

It was proven by his researchers that, compared to others who contracted the Apocalypse Fever late, those who got it at the start of the apocalypse were stronger. Every person who survived the duration of their fever when the apocalypse occurred all awakened as Psychics, the term Americans and Canadians used for their awakened people. They called them Psychics because the mysterious energy within them that they either called psionic energy or mental energy was believed to be intimately connected to their brain. Whenever they ran out of this energy, they would feel an immense headache as if some sort of force was pulling the nerves on their head. They also referred to these types of people as the First Awakeners. This was a term they used for anyone who got the Apocalypse Fever at the start of the apocalypse.

As for the others who got it late, they called them the Late Bloomers. Unlike the First Awakeners, the Late Bloomers don't necessarily awaken as Psychics. There were some who awakened as psychics, but there were those who awakened as other types of awakeners. Throughout the time since the apocalypse began, their researchers have managed to discover and categorize the awakened people into four.

These categories were the Psychic, an awakened person who relied on psionic energy to use their powers; the Metahuman, a type of awakened person whose one type of capability, like strength, agility, or intelligence, increased to superhuman levels; the Mutant, a type of awakened person whose body acquired some sort of physical change that gave them some advantages; and then the System Users, a weird type of awakened person who got powers that expressed themselves in the form of digital prompts that only the user of that power could see.

Out of those categories, the first three were the most likely things a Late Bloomer would awaken with. As for the fourth type, it was the rarest one. Only one person was recorded in their database as having awakened with a System, and it's someone from Canada.

It would be great if he awakened with such a potent power. The first three categories wouldn't be that strong regardless of how long he was bedridden with this sickness. Late Bloomers only awakened with an inferior version of the powers compared to the First Awakeners. Though he stopped daydreaming about it. He knew that it was a low chance for him to awaken with a System. It was by pure chance they learned about this category. It was because none had awakened with that kind of power.

So he simply waited, already trying to think of what he would do next to help his nation survive this disaster.

[Welcome, User! Congratulations, you have awakened with the power of the Military System!]

Just as he was thinking like that, it happened. The weakness that engulfed his body suddenly vanished along with the mysterious pressure on his head as a prompt akin to a digital message in a certain game appeared in his eyes. The monotonous, robotic voice that had a slight feminine tone in it echoed in his ears as he stared at it with muted shock. Though after a second, he sits up quickly and stares at it intently.

It didn't take long for him to process what had happened.

"Ah, fate hasn't abandoned this country yet!"

Miles Dalton, the 46th President of the United States of America, has awakened with a System!