Awakening a 10,000x Skill Proficiency Multiplier in the Apocalypse-Chapter 54: []: The Blackout, A Spark in the Dark

The Sanctuary was actually starting to look like a functioning society.

Down in the massive courtyards, the labor division was hauling heavy rebar and cracked concrete under the watchful eyes of the Scrap Golems.

The medical division was busy sterilizing the wounded in the eastern wing using boiled water from the deep aquifer.

Sebastian stood on the balcony overlooking the grand hall. He was finally taking a moment to breathe.

The twenty percent synchronization was settling into his bones. He felt like a coiled spring vibrating with heavy energy.

Valerie walked up beside him and wiped a streak of grease from her forehead. She held a glowing solar powered tablet.

"The water filtration system is fully operational," she reported with genuine pride.

"We have enough clean water to keep the five thousand refugees hydrated. The perimeter is holding perfectly. Those mindless Infected are just cooking themselves on the golden barrier. Honestly? We might actually survive the week."

Sebastian opened his mouth to reply as a rare half smile formed on his lips.

CLUNK.

Every single light in the massive Tier 5 Citadel violently died.

The low hum of the heavy duty diesel generators in the sublevels sputtered and completely faded out.

The water pumps in the distance ground to a screeching halt.

The only illumination left in the stone fortress was the faint blue glow of the Arcane Towers outside and the red light filtering through the high glass windows.

Instantly, a chorus of panicked screams erupted from the refugee camps in the courtyard.

Total darkness in a world suddenly filled with invisible flesh eating monsters was the ultimate trigger for mass hysteria.

"What the hell?!" Valerie shouted over the rising din of crying civilians. "Did the generators overload? We just fueled them!"

Sebastian didn’t panic. He just let out a long exhausted sigh and leaned his forearms against the cold stone railing.

"No. The generators are fine," Sebastian said with a flat voice. "The government just cut the city grid. They severed the main power lines and the water mains leading into the industrial district."

"They cut the power?" Valerie asked as her blue eyes went wide with disbelief in the dark. "The whole world is literally ending. The sky is bleeding. Giant spiders are eating people on the streets. And their tactical response is to turn off our lights to starve us out?"

"Bureaucracy never dies princess," Sebastian chuckled darkly. "It just gets pettier. Colonel Vance and his boys are sitting out there in their tanks scared out of their minds. They can’t break our magical walls so they’re trying to put us in time out."

"We have thousands of injured people down there! If the medical bay loses power they’ll die of infection!" Valerie gripped her staff tightly. "What do we do? We can’t run this entire fortress on three portable gas generators!"

"Relax. I’m the landlord," Sebastian said as he pushed himself off the railing. He cracked his knuckles and the sound echoed sharply. "I’ll go pay the electric bill."

He didn’t wait for her to ask questions. He turned and descended the spiraling staircase into the pitch black sublevels.

His newly synchronized eyes easily pierced the gloom and he navigated the shadows as if it were broad daylight.

He reached the secure terminal room and grabbed his sleek black VR helmet. He sat back in the heavy leather chair. He needed a battery. A big one.

"Link start," he commanded.

VWOOSH!

The suffocating darkness of the real world shattered and was instantly replaced by the roaring chaos of the Ethereal Plane.

Sebastian materialized on a jagged cliffside. The wind instantly whipped his ragged Drifter cloak around his legs.

The sky above him wasn’t the bleeding red of the corrupted zones. It was a swirling vortex of pitch black storm clouds.

CRACK-BOOM!

A massive bolt of white lightning struck a nearby peak and shattered the stone sending a shower of sparks raining down into the valley.

[System: Welcome to the Thunder Peaks.]

[Warning: Extreme Environmental Hazard. Lightning Strikes deal True Damage.]

"Perfect weather for a stroll," Sebastian muttered as his deadpan eyes scanned the jagged horizon.

He wasn’t here to farm experience. He was here for hardware.

He navigated the treacherous slopes with the casual ease of a man walking to his mailbox. He ignored the low level Spark Elementals that hissed and popped at his feet. He needed the big game.

After twenty minutes of climbing, he found it.

Hovering over a massive crater of fused glass was a Level 35 Storm Behemoth. It was a Tier 3 Lightning Elemental.

It didn’t have a biological body. It was a towering mass of condensed plasma shaped vaguely like a gorilla. Thick chains of blue electricity leaped from its arms and constantly scorched the earth beneath it.

In the center of its bright chest was a solid beating core of pure high voltage mana.

[Entity: Storm Behemoth (Level 35)]

The monster spotted him instantly. It let out a screech that sounded like tearing metal and TV static.

BZZZZT!

It pounded its plasma fists against its chest and charged leaving a trail of melted rock in its wake.

Sebastian didn’t draw his Earth Sword. He didn’t pull up a defensive ward.

He casually opened his inventory and pulled out a crumpled skill book he had looted off a dead miner NPC days ago.

[Basic Gather]

[Tier: 0 Crafting Skill]

[Effect: Allows the user to safely harvest low tier herbs and minerals.]

It was a skill used to pick digital daisies.

Sebastian crushed the book in his palm. The grey motes of light sank into his skin.

[Action Registered: Learn Basic Gather.]

[Nexus Glitch Activated: Proficiency x10,000.]

The beautiful cascade of blue notifications flooded his vision and illuminated his face in the stormy darkness.

[Basic Gather leveled up to 10/10! Max Level Reached!]

[Evolution Requirement Met. Basic Gather evolves to Tier 1: Expert Extraction!]

[Proficiency Overflow Detected! Expert Extraction leveled up to 10/10!]

[Evolution Requirement Met. Expert Extraction evolves to Tier 3: Surgical Dismantling!]

[Proficiency Overflow Detected! Surgical Dismantling leveled up to 10/10!]

[WARNING: Concept Threshold Breached. Absolute Separation Law Unlocked.]

[Surgical Dismantling evolves to Conceptual Law: Core Rend.]

The massive plasma gorilla lunged and swung a fist made of lightning directly at Sebastian’s head. It carried enough voltage to turn a normal player into a pile of ash.

Sebastian didn’t dodge. He raised his bare right hand.

The conceptual law of Core Rend didn’t just teach him how to pick flowers. It taught him the exact mathematical weakness in the structural integrity of any given entity.

It allowed him to bypass the flesh and the armor and lay his hands directly on the soul of the object.

He thrust his hand forward and perfectly met the elemental’s chest.

SQUELCH!

Sebastian’s arm sank entirely into the bright plasma of the monster’s torso. The elemental froze and its massive lightning fist stopped inches from Sebastian’s nose.

The creature let out a horrifying glitching shriek of pure panic.

"Lights out sparky," Sebastian grunted.

He closed his fingers around the beating high voltage core. It felt like grabbing a live power line. The heat was immense but the conceptual law protected his digital flesh. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

He pulled. Violently.

SHLUCK!

Sebastian ripped his arm backward. A massive splash of blue liquid plasma erupted from the monster’s chest.

He held a glowing vibrating sphere of electrical mana in his fist. It was the size of a bowling ball and crackled with untamed energy.

Without its core, the Level 35 Behemoth instantly lost its structural integrity. The towering gorilla of lightning simply collapsed.

FZZZT.

It splashed onto the rocky ground like a dropped water balloon and dissolved into harmless blue sparks and a pile of useless grey ash.

[System: You have slain a Storm Behemoth!]

[Item Acquired: Pristine Storm Core]

"Much better than a gas generator," Sebastian smirked. He tossed the wildly dangerous core up and caught it casually in his hand.

He didn’t stick around to loot the ash. He pulled up his menu and forcefully hit the disconnect button.

VZZZT!

Sebastian gasped and his real world lungs expanded rapidly as he woke up in the pitch black terminal room of Sanctuary.

He didn’t waste a second. He focused on his physical inventory space and tapped into the reality bleeding connection he had established.

"Manifest," he commanded.

A blinding flash of blue light illuminated the concrete walls. The heavy vibrating Storm Core dropped into his hands. It was incredibly hot but his twenty percent synchronized biological muscles easily absorbed the strain.

He walked out of the terminal room and navigated the dark corridors toward the primary engineering bay.

Galleon was already there. The dwarf was cursing loudly in the dark while swinging a heavy wrench blindly at a dead generator.

"Stupid human machines! Runs on dinosaur juice! Give me a proper mana forge!" Galleon roared and kicked the steel casing.

"Step aside stubby," Sebastian’s voice cut through the dark.

The dwarf turned and his eyes widened as the intense pulsing blue light of the Storm Core bathed the room in a harsh glow.

"By the First Maker’s beard," Galleon whispered as he dropped his wrench. "Is that a Tier 3 Elemental heart? In the physical realm?! Boss you are a beautiful lunatic!"

"Hook it up to the main grid," Sebastian ordered. He slammed the crackling core onto a heavy steel workbench. "Bypass the diesel engines. Wire it directly into the citadel’s mana conduits."

Galleon didn’t need to be told twice. The dwarf moved with terrifying manic speed.

He ripped heavy copper cables from the walls and ignored the sparks. He forcefully jammed them directly into the pulsing energy of the core. He slapped a hastily carved runic dampener over the top to keep it from exploding.

"Contact!" Galleon yelled as he slammed a heavy iron lever upward.

THROOM!

The entire fortress vibrated.

It wasn’t a slow flickering return of power. It was an explosive surge of magical electricity.

Every single light in Sanctuary blasted on at maximum capacity. The dark shadows of the grand hall were instantly vaporized. The medical bay monitors beeped happily. The water pumps roared back to life with triple their previous pressure.

Outside the fortress, the National Guard had set up their blockade in the dark. They were using their night vision goggles to monitor the perimeter.

Suddenly the massive stadium sized floodlights mounted on the black walls of the Sanctuary clicked on.

BZZZZT!

It was like the sun had just manifested at ground level. A blinding localized beam of painfully bright light hit the military camp.

Soldiers screamed and ripped their night vision goggles off as the intense light practically burned their eyes. Tanks hastily threw their gears into reverse as their drivers were completely blinded by the overwhelming glare.

Sebastian stood on the ramparts and looked down at the chaotic screaming military convoy desperately trying to retreat from the light. He bathed in the glow of infinite clean energy.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a military ration bar to take a bite.

"Send me a past due notice during the apocalypse," Sebastian chewed thoughtfully and shook his head. "amateurs."