Apocalypse with my SSS Harem Beauties-Chapter 69: The Giant Walk Out

They all agreed in unison that the Ether Shards needed to be spent on themselves first. Power came before their tools and equipment because without strength, even the best equipment would be wasted.

Kade frowned as he rolled one shard between his fingers, its pale glow washing across his knuckles.

"But... how do we actually do this? Do we just shove the shards into the altar and wait?" Kade asked.

Silence spread. They felt heavy and uncertain again. None of them had an answer for now.

"Then just try it," Nadine said at last.

The group exchanged glances, then gave faint shrugs.

They had already faced worse than this. If the altar demanded something, they would see it soon enough and just need to face it. But they didn’t feel like anything dangerous would appear again after the monster before.

Kade and Ryan stepped forward first and approached the altar, raising their hands cautiously.

Each set one glowing shard upon the cold surface.

The reaction came instantly.

[Low-grade Ether Shard detected]

[Sacrifice to the Soul Forge Altar to gain +1 Stat Point. Higher-grade Ether Shards grant more stat.]

A ripple of green light pulsed outward from the altar, brushing across their faces.

Ryan and Kade both froze, eyes wide, as new words flooded their vision.

[Choose the stat you wish to increase]

Their gazes flicked toward one another. They didn’t need words and only a shared nod.

"What did you see?" George asked with curiosity.

"It says that we can choose which stat to upgrade. One point for each low-grade shard. if we have higher grade shards we will gain more points," Ryan said.

The others murmured quietly when understanding settled in.

Ryan’s fingers tightened around his remaining shards. He took five of them and pressed them one by one onto the altar.

Each time, the altar pulsed faintly as if breathing, and the glow carved deeper into his skin.

A shudder ran through him as the notifications flared.

[+1 Strength]

[+1 Endurance]

[+1 Agility]

[+1 Strength]

[+1 Wisdom]

By the fifth shard, Ryan staggered slightly, not from pain but from the flood of newfound energgy coursing through his veins.

His breathing grew heavier. Faint lines of exhaustion on his face faded as though he had slept a full night.

He smiled and looked at Kade. "Its working."

Kade followed next without hesitation. His palms hovered over the altar before he pushed in five shards. The light surged again, crawling up his arms.

[+1 Strength]

[+1 Strength]

[+1 Agility]

[+1 Perception]

[+1 Endurance]

Kade let out a low grunt as if testing his own body.

He clenched his fists, feeling the energy filled his body.

The others watched in awe.

That was all it took for hesitation to vanish. One by one, Clara, Sam, Daniel, Ethan, and George stepped closer, each laying their shards into the altar.

In the next second, the chamber filled with a rhythm of pulsing green light that rose and fell as each of them absorbed the power.

Their expressions changed with every shard.

George felt his mind sharpened, his Forgemind skill resonating faintly with the altar as if whispering unseen truths into his thoughts.

By the time the last of their shards dimmed and dissolved into the altar’s glow, the group had become stronger.

The oppressive chamber had changed into an important place that brought them hope of clear progress.

Now that the others had done it, Myles, Victor, and Nadine stepped forward for their turn.

The same green pulses flared from the altar as each of them laid down their shards.

Myles pressed five shards one after another onto the cold surface. His vision flared with his choices of stats he wanted to upgrade.

[+1 Strength]

[+1 Strength]

[+1 Wisdom]

[+1 Wisdom]

[+1 Wisdom]

A deep heat spread through his muscles while his mind felt sharper and more focused. He exhaled slowly, flexing his fingers as if testing both body and thought.

Nadine followed without hesitation. One by one, she placed all five. The altar pulsed.

[+1 Wisdom]

[+1 Wisdom]

[+1 Wisdom]

[+1 Wisdom]

[+1 Wisdom]

Mana welled inside her like a rushing tide, filling every corner of her body.

She gripped the hilt of her weapon with renewed confidence, knowing now she had the MP to unleash the skills bound within it.

Victor stepped up last with calm and deliberate steps. He placed three shards first, then the remaining two.

[+1 Strength]

[+1 Strength]

[+1 Strength]

[+1 Agility]

[+1 Agility]

A ripple ran across his body, his shoulders broadening slightly as raw power filled him.

His body felt lighter and quicker with the two new points in Agility.

When all three stepped back, the altar’s glow dimmed.

"Victor, what time is it?" Myles asked.

Victor raised his wrist, the cracked screen of his watch catching the green light before he squinted at it. "Two in the afternoon."

Myles gave a short nod. "Good. Then we’re not done yet. We can go again and hunt more shards while the daylight’s still on our side. Alright?"

No one argued. Their gazes burned with the same hunger.

There was a device to gain more strength right here, within their grasp and they could use it anytime.

They all agreed without hesitation.

—

On the outside of the Ether Rift, the city lay desolate beneath a gray sky.

From the shadow of the apartment complex a giant with thick blue skin emerged. His massive frame bent slightly as he squeezed past the ruined doorway.

He stretched his shoulders, the concrete groaning under the shift of his weight.

He finally felt bored. He had stayed inside the apartment too long so he decided to go out.

He lumbered onto the cracked pavement, his heavy footsteps echoing through the empty street.

His mind was still clinging to fragments of the human mind but warped and swollen by corrupted power.

Not a single mutated human or animals appeared from the corners, nor any human scavengers searching desperately for food. No other monsters lurked in the alleys.

The giant tilted his head, frowning as his brow furrowed.

"Hmm... weird," he rumbled. "Usually there’s people looking for food or monsters wandering around."

The silence gave no answer.

He turned his gaze toward the horizon, then began walking further.

—