The moment he cleared the checkpoint, the city fell away behind him.
Nicholas glanced in the rearview mirror and watched the buildings shrink with the lights fading one by one, swallowed by the growing distance.
Soon there was nothing but darkness where the city had been, only then did his eyes return back to the road ahead.
The paved road was slowly disappearing too… cracks spreading across the surface, then patches of gravel, then nothing but packed earth. The wilderness stretched before him, vast and dark and waiting.
He pressed the accelerator and the truck surged forward, eating up the ground beneath its tires.
The sun was just beginning to paint the horizon in shades of pale gold and soft pink. He kept going as he watched the morning come up slowly.
Only when he could finally see without using his headlight did Nicholas tap the interface beside him.
His fingers moved quickly across the screen, inputting the general location he was heading to… Valley of Darkness.
It was a readily available coordinates, so it wasn't something very important. Once he was certain it was the correct one his hands moved away from the interface.
He reached for a blue button on the dashboard and tapped it.
[Autopilot engaged]
A soft chime sounded before the steering wheel shifted slightly in his hands before steadying itself.
Slowly, he climbed into the back seat, leaving the vehicle to drive itself.
Once he was proper seated, he reached out and opened the second box… Not the one with the medical supplies but the other one.
Inside were several objects which he ignored them all and instead grabbed a data drive.
He closed the box, gently setting it to the side before he leaned forward and inserted it into the interface.
[New map detected]
[Do you wish to change to this new route?]
[Yes] [No]
He tapped Yes without hesitation.
The interface flickered displaying a loading screen—spinning circle, blinking dots—and held for a few seconds. Then the screen refreshed.
[New route successful]
[Time to destination: 30 hrs]
Thirty hours.
Nicholas leaned back and did the math in his head. Even at almost eighty kilometres per hour, it would take him more than a full day to reach his destination.
Of course, he wouldn't be doing 80km/hrs all through but still… It was a long ass journey.
Unfortunately, it was necessary.
Although, there were faster means of transportation. From trains that could cross the continent in hours to airships that could carry him anywhere he wanted to go.
They weren't suited for his situation.
He could have taken a train to a city closer to his destination… That would have been faster but then he would have had to rent a truck there.
Better to just drive there himself.
Once everything was in order, he laid his head back on the headrest. The leather was heated so it was warm now.
If there was any incident—any trouble on the road—the vehicle would alarm him, so he closed his eyes not to sleep. Just to rest.
And as the trees rolled by, his mind drifted.
One of the simplest questions people often asked was this: Why so many walled cities in a world so advanced?
It seemed strange, didn't it? They had technology for almost anything, weapons that could level mountains and even people with powers that made them nearly gods.
And yet humanity still huddled behind walls like frightened animal.
Why didn't they wipe out all the beasts? Something that could have been easily achieved, especially by the S-Rank and SS-Rank ability users in a few days.
And then a massive city could hold the entirety of the human race could be built under the joint resources of all six monarch.
It was simple… Location.
Some places just weren't suitable for living… the ground were unstable or some with chaotic essence concentration that may lead to essence corruption.
Most settlements had been built in easily defendable locations… Mostly places with high ground and narrow passes or other natural barriers.
And more importantly: stable space.
Some areas were simply prone to rifts… Portals that ripped open without warning, spewing monsters and madness into the world.
Other places had more stable space that as long as one rift existed, no other would appear nearby.
And till now they were next to no defence against it.
The portals that led to the Shattered Realm could pop up anywhere and anything could come through.
Anything.
Sometimes it was just a corpse… a pile of bones that had no business being on this side of reality with the rift just leading to a graveyard.
Of course, they had their research value.
Sometimes it was just a burst of essence leading to a smelly cave.
And other times?
Thousands of beasts could pour through the tear in reality and consumed everything in its path.
This world—Vale—was what you would call a 'safe zone.' Relatively speaking. But the rifts were still there and remained a problem that couldn't be solved with walls and weapons alone.
That was why people still explored the shattered realm even with the danger.
Resources.
Vale World was poor, not in the depleted sense… more like the planet was very much barren before essence even flooded it.
Most of the more powerful people actually lived in the Shattered Realm, only retreating back to Vale to rest and recover.
The census was simple: It was far easier to defend small pockets of settlement than one massive walled city that was constantly under attack.
Spread out and build small easily defendable settlement. If one settlement was wiped out, it wouldn't affect the entire race too severely.
Sounds cruel… It would have been, if the only problem were beasts.
But there were cults, fallen creatures and xenos… races trapped in the Shattered Realm that wanted their own safe zones.
The world was complicated with varied threats and truly defending one massive position wasn't the best option.
Even at this point, several races had already infiltrated the planet. In fact, one of the main characters in the original story was a drow.
*Beep* *Beep* *Beep*
Nicholas eyes immediately snapped open and his eyes caught the timer on the interface first.
[Time to destination: 28 hrs]
His eyes immediately glanced at the reason he was receiving a warning.
'I guess… no more peace.' He thought as his eyes settled on the aggressor now chasing his truck.