Chapter 40 | The Five Megacities
Alicar woke up the next day feeling refreshed after everything that had happened, his body finally recovering from the exhaustion of the past few weeks, and the first thing he did was check his account balance.
[Current Balance: $132,007]
’Hell yeah!’ he thought, a wide grin spreading across his face.
He almost wanted to shout in celebration, but knowing that he had thin walls and nosy neighbors, he stopped himself from doing so, keeping his excitement contained.
His debt was automatically paid using the money he had received, meaning that everything that he had left could be used for himself, a freedom he had never experienced before.
After taking a shower and changing his clothes into something cleaner, the very first thing he did was go out and eat at an actual restaurant near the high districts of the megacity, a place he had only ever walked past before.
On the way, while waiting for his food, he stumbled upon a forum post titled: [The state of the world as we know it!]
It simply described someone wondering what the tension between each of the five megacities were and if anything could happen, a question that had clearly sparked a heated debate.
As a result, Alicar found himself pondering on how the world he was in was structured, a topic he had already explored in depth due to the academy’s teachings.
After the apocalypse descended and reality fractured, almost every country was destroyed, and after decades of chaos and struggle, once peace finally returned, they had to rebuild from the ashes.
A strange phenomenon also happened at that moment that defied all logic: for some strange reason, all of the continents merged together over time.
It didn’t happen instantly, of course, but over the course of the many decades since the Eternal Realm appeared, they simply drifted and converged, forming a supercontinent now named "Eternal" by the survivors.
As a result, every country disappeared, instead being replaced by five megacities that governed the remnants of human civilization.
The first one was Ember, located roughly on the continent where Asia had once been, encompassing the lands of Russia, China, India, Japan and more, making it the largest megacity among every single one in the current world.
This also meant that it had the largest population of awakeners, though quantity didn’t always match quality.
The second megacity was Vanguard, forged atop the remnants of Europe and the Middle East, where France, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and more had once stood.
They are at the edge of every technological advance, their innovations allowing the world to become more sustainable for both awakeners and citizens alike, pushing the boundaries of what humanity couldachieve.
The third megacity was Terra Nova, built where Africa used to be, with countries like Morocco, Algeria, Libya and more, their land rich in resources after the apocalypse allowing the world to function, providing the materials needed to sustain the other megacities.
The fourth was New Dawn, a unique megacity composed of both land and floating islands where you could live, a breathtaking mix of South America and Oceania, with countries like Brazil, Australia and more.
And finally, the fifth megacity, the one where Alicar resided, and also the one with the "strongest" individual awakeners, from the land where the USA, Canada, Mexico and the surrounding isles used to be: Tempest.
The population of the current world was around 200 million after everything that happened, a fraction of what it had once been, but there was a fair balance between each megacity that allowed things to function smoothly.
The many materials and items from the Eternal Realm also heavily helped in day-to-day life, from powering homes to healing the sick, integrating magic into the very fabric of society.
That is why there was never truly a lack of demand, it was infinite when it came to materials from the Eternal Realm.
As Alicar sat down at the restaurant and ordered his food, a hearty meal that he would have never been able to afford before, he continued reading the replies to the initial post, his curiosity piqued.
- I don’t see any reasons why the five megacities would even attempt to fight one another, we are all human, simply aiming to survive.
- A lot of awakeners do get competitive though, and I heard there’s a lot of killing in the First Layer...
- Well, that’s not unique to humans, all races do this, so just grow stronger until you meet them in the Second Layer.
- I just entered the First Layer, can anyone tell me information about the other races?
- Their worlds went through the same thing as ours, meaning that they also unlock classes, talents, and other stuff, though some races have better physique than others, I’d be careful.
The conversation continued, but this indeed made Alicar wonder even more what he would do in the future, what kind of path he would carve for himself.
’My class, it displays the race of the individual I check the soul of, and the description also implies I can recruit vessels from other races,’ he thought, his mind already racing with possibilities.
If some had extremely high potential, Alicar wouldn’t mind recruiting them, though that would be for the future, when he was strong enough to venture beyond the Initial Stage.
He finished eating, enjoying his meal with satisfaction before returning to the Trading Centre as he planned to enter the Initial Stage once more today.
As he reached the spot where the salesman from yesterday had been, he noticed that he wasn’t there, instead there was a woman with a bored expression.
"Hello?" Alicar asked, his brow furrowed. "Where’s the salesman from yesterday?"
"Brian?" the woman looked up from her phone screen and replied drily, her voice flat. "After a big sale, he was promoted as a First Layer salesman, and now I’m the one that’s stuck here..."
"Damn," Alicar replied, a hint of amusement in his voice.
Either way, Alicar returned to the section to buy items, and he finally acquired the [Small Storage Ring], the item he had been eyeing since yesterday.
It hurt to see $30,000 disappear just like that, a sum that would have changed his life just weeks ago, but he knew that as an awakener, acquiring a lot of money to just to spend it on items was going to happen regularly.
He equipped it on his finger, feeling its cool surface against his skin, and now, he could actually store things without carrying them in hand, a convenience he had desperately needed.
He also decided to buy a [Cutting Knife (E)] just to be able to cut the monsters he killed in case they had cores.
That one only cost him $10,000
"You may enter the Initial Stage via one of the portals located around the megacity, as that will allow you to transport the items you bought there as well," the same woman from before spoke as she processed Alicar’s sale, her voice carrying a hint of hope. "Thank you for your patronage, please make sure to bring me an incredible item so that I can get out of here too!"
The last part felt more like she was speaking from raw emotions, a plea from someone trapped in a dead-end job, and Alicar simply chuckled. "I’ll try."
He also realized at that moment he did not have Iris or Leon’s contacts, meaning that he couldn’t communicate with them directly, a small oversight.
"Oh well, I’ll find them later," Alicar shrugged, pushing the thought aside.
He made his way toward one of the portal locations, eventually reaching a massive plaza where several guards were stationed, many awakeners going through the shimmering portals that lined the area.
He paid the fee to enter, which was only $500, a negligible amount compared to his newfound wealth, and then, just like that, Alicar was transported back to the Initial Stage.
’I can feel it,’ he thought as his vision cleared, ’There’s definitely a way to earn Evolution Points in there, I just have to find it.’