The survivors stared at Sam in silence.
Some of them still shook from fear.
Ash from the destroyed vampires drifted through the night air like gray snow.
A woman finally stepped forward.
"You… you killed them."
Sam rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
"Yeah… but more will come."
He looked toward the ruined horizon where the broken skyline of New York City stood like a graveyard.
"Listen carefully," Sam said.
His voice grew serious.
"This continent is not safe anymore."
The people exchanged nervous looks.
Sam continued.
"Mutants, vampires, magic monsters… they're all waking up. This place is going to get worse."
He pointed east.
"Head toward the coast. Find boats, ships as long as it's anything that floats."
A man asked quietly,
"Where do we go?"
Sam shrugged.
"Islands, build a new settlement there, most of the creatures won't make it there ."
He remembered the future of the world from the show.
Thousands of years later the land would become Ooo, but right now the planet was entering the chaotic magical age that led to that world.
"Find small islands. Hide. Survive and grow."
The survivors looked uncertain.
But after seeing what Sam had done to the vampires… they believed him.
One of them nodded.
"We will."
Sam gave a small wave and turned away.
"Good luck, you'll definitely need it ."
Then he sprinted back into the darkness.
While Running
The system window hovered beside him.
Skill Selection Available
Sam opened the Arcane Skill Tree.
Four glowing branches floated before him.
Elemental,
Spatial.
Creation.
Forbidden.
But Sam's eyes locked onto the Elemental Path.
Then the sub-branch appeared.
Fire Magic
Frost Magic
Storm Magic
Sam grinned.
"Lightning sounds fun, even though fire would be more advisable but he's here for adventure."
He selected it.
SKILL UNLOCKED
Storm Magic – Tier 1
Abilities Unlocked:
• Lightning Spark
• Static Charge
• Electrical Resistance
Future Branches:
• Chain Lightning
• Thunder Strike
• Storm Field
Immediately Sam felt something strange.
Energy prickled across his skin.
His hair lifted slightly as faint blue electricity crackled around his fingers.
He stopped running and raised his hand.
"Lightning Spark."
A tiny bolt snapped from his fingertips and blasted a hole through a rusted road sign.
Sam's eyes widened.
"Okay… that's awesome."
Storm magic felt different than arcane magic.
Arcane magic was like shaping clay.
Storm magic felt like holding a wild animal.
Sam laughed and continued sprinting toward his base.
Thirty Minutes Later
The ruined highway overpass finally came into view.
Sam slowed down.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
The entire area moved.
The ground rippled like a living swamp.
Green slime covered the collapsed concrete.
Sam's eyes widened.
"…No way."
Thousands of shapes crawled across the ruins.
Oozers.
Hundreds…
No.
Thousands.
The system activated instantly.
WARNING
Mass Mutation Event Detected
Enemy Population Estimate:
1,024 Oozer Mutants
Threat type : Horde
Sam stared in disbelief.
"My base…"
The overpass where his mobile base was hidden was completely surrounded by oozers.
They poured out of sewer drains.
Cracks.
Subway tunnels.
Like a living flood of slime.
Some of them climbed over wrecked vehicles.
Others fused together into larger forms.
Something deeper underground had clearly triggered this migration.
Sam crouched behind a destroyed bus and watched.
"If I charge in… I'll get buried."
But if he didn't do anything…
His base would be swallowed.
All his supplies.
Weapons.
Maps.
Gone.
Sam exhaled slowly.
Then a smile spread across his face.
"Well…"
He lifted his hand.
Blue lightning crackled violently across his fingers.
"…guess it's time to test this Storm Magic."
He climbed onto the roof of the bus.
The oozer horde noticed him immediately.
Hundreds of glowing green eyes turned upward.
Then they charged.
A tidal wave of slime surged forward.
Sam took a deep breath.
Mana surged through his body.
He raised his arm toward the storm clouds gathering overhead.
"Let's see how this works."
Electricity exploded around him.
"LIGHTNING SPARK!"
A bolt shot downward.
BOOM.
The first oozer detonated into burning slime.
But hundreds more crawled over its remains.
Sam grinned wider.
"Oh."
"You guys want a real storm?"
Lightning crackled louder.
The sky above the ruined highway darkened.
The first thunder rolled across the wasteland.
And the oozer horde surged toward him like a green ocean.
Lightning split the sky above the broken highway.
Sam stood on top of the rusted bus as the oozer horde surged toward him like a living tide.
Green sludge covered the asphalt for hundreds of meters.
Thousands of distorted bodies crawled over each other, screeching and bubbling.
Sam inhaled slowly.
Electricity crackled violently across his arms.
"Alright…"
He pointed his hand forward.
"Let's do this."
First Strike
"Lightning Spark!"
A blinding bolt exploded downward
BOOOOM!
Five oozers detonated instantly.
Burning slime splashed across the road.
The rest of the horde barely slowed.
SYSTEM
+120 EXP
+120 EXP
+130 EXP
+110 EXP
+125 EXP
Sam laughed.
"Oh this is going to be fun."
He jumped off the bus and landed directly in front of the charging swarm.
Mana surged through his veins.
Electricity wrapped around his body like living snakes.
"Again!"
Another bolt blasted into the crowd.
Then another.
Then another.
The night filled with constant thunder.
Every flash of lightning turned dozens of oozers into burning sludge.
The horde shrieked.
But they kept coming.
Sam ran forward instead of retreating, laughing like a crazy mad man as he fought
His fists crackled with electricity.
He punched the first oozer.
The lightning surged through it.
Then jumped to the next.
And the next.
SYSTEM
+110 EXP
+125 EXP
+130 EXP
+120 EXP
+115 EXP
The numbers flooded his vision.
Sam sprinted through the swarm like a storm itself.
Each strike killed several more.
Lightning jumped across the slime-covered ground, electrocuting entire clusters of mutants.
Within minutes,
Hundreds were dead.
LEVEL UP
Level 13 Reached
+6 Stat Points
Sam grinned wildly.
"Let's go!"
He slammed both hands into the ground.
Electricity exploded outward in a circular shockwave.
Dozens of oozers burst apart.
SYSTEM
+2,400 EXP
The horde began thinning.
Burning slime filled the highway.
Sam kept moving.
Lightning bolts fell continuously from his hands.
The sky above him seemed to respond.
Storm clouds gathered.
Thunder roared louder.
LEVEL UP
Level 14 Reached
+6 Stat Points
Sam wiped slime from his face.
"This skill tree is broken."
The last several hundred oozers charged in desperation.
Sam raised both arms.
Lightning surged upward.
Then struck downward in a massive arc.
BOOOOOOM.
The entire front half of the horde vaporized.
The rest fled into sewer drains and tunnels.
Silence slowly returned to the ruined highway.
Sam stood alone among smoking craters and melted slime.
The system chimed again.
SYSTEM STATUS
Name: Sam Carter
Level: 14
Stats
Strength:20
Agility:22
Endurance:21
Intelligence:27
Magic Control:26
Perception:20
Combat Analysis
Compared to Average Human:
Strength → 4x stronger
Agility → 5x faster reflexes
Endurance → 5x stamina and durability
Magic Control → Extremely Rare
(Top 0.01%)
Mana Calculations
Mana Pool: 310 Units
Mana Regen: 8 per minute
Spell Stability: +42%
Lightning Output: Medium–High Tier
Sam exhaled slowly.
Electric sparks still danced across his skin.
"Not bad…"
But then the system flickered.
Something new appeared on the map.
Far away.
On the opposite side of the planet.
A massive glowing icon.
POV Switch — Other Side of Earth
The sky above the ocean burned red.
Clouds twisted violently.
The atmosphere itself trembled.
High above the planet,
Something enormous approached.
A blue comet.
It burned brighter than the moon.
Its surface pulsed with strange cosmic energy.
For thousands of years it had traveled through space.
And now it had returned.
The Catalyst Comet.
Just as it had in the ancient history that would eventually shape the world of Ooo.
The comet screamed through the atmosphere.
Its blue fire illuminated the entire ocean.
On the surface of the water,
A massive shadow stirred deep below.
An ancient entity that had slept for ages.
The arrival of the comet awakened it.
The ocean began to boil.
The comet roared downward.
Closer.
Closer.
Then
BOOOOOOOOOOM.
The impact shook the planet.
Shockwaves tore across continents.
Magic erupted into the world like a tidal wave.
Reality itself began to warp.
The era of true magic had begun.
Back at the Ruined Highway
Sam felt the tremor instantly.
The ground shook violently beneath his feet.
Lightning flickered across the sky.
The system activated.
GLOBAL EVENT DETECTED
Catalyst Comet Impact
Magical Density Increasing Rapidly
Dimensional Barriers Weakening
New Creatures Awakening Worldwide
Sam looked up at the glowing sky.
"…Yep."
He sighed.
"The weird part of the timeline just started."
Far beneath the earth…
In deep caverns older than civilization…
Thousands of vampires opened their eyes.
And somewhere in the frozen north…
A crown waited for the man who would become the tragic wizard Simon Petrikov.
The world was changing.
And Sam had just become strong enough to survive the beginning of it.