Chapter 5: What's a car?
The world had just ended and like any citizen of the great United States, the population had quickly armed themselves and started shooting at things.
However, further south from the conflict in Etherwind's capital, in the countryside town of Magixor, which boasted the prestigious Academy of Magical Excellence, Klein walked around the rubble and ruin.
'How... fascinating' Klein was mesmerized as soon as he had stepped outside of the academy.
A metal pole jutted out from the trunk of a verdant tree. Klein was familiar with the tree as he passed by it along with the others along his path every day. Though now, Klein wondered if it could be called the same tree that it once was.
'Heh, am I a philosopher now?' Klein thought, amused, as he slowly made it to the town, ensuring he took in as much of the changes as possible.
The hill remained, along with most of those trees, albeit the path was occasionally interspersed with strange metallic artifacts.
Klein sighed in relief as he made it past the dragon-shaped waterfall. That thing was really cool, and he'd have been a tinge upset if something had happened to it.
As Klein made it closer to the town, he realized that the cobblestone path was awkwardly displaced by a more robust, and smoother road. Mrs. May's Bakery was no more, and standing upon its rubble was a half-collapsing house.
The style of the house was unfamiliar to the town, and there were many like it lined along many of the streets - all showcasing varying degrees of damage.
Mr. Weathers had opted to fly in order to see better what was happening. Klein looked up at him from below, and could only faintly make out the consternation on the elderly man's brow.
Klein kicked a pebble that landed a hit on one of the strange metallic vehicles, causing a loud beeping sound to emerge from it.
He quickly cast a shielding spell on himself as he retreated. He readied himself for any unexpected situation.
'Alarm enchantment?' Klein thought as he surveyed his surroundings. There was hardly anyone on this street anymore, but he barely caught the sight of a curtain shift in one of the strange buildings.
'That's the strangest part... there are people. The only way to explain it is mass teleportation. But... why, and from where?' Klein mused as he maintained his shielding spell, walking slowly towards the metal-beeping vehicle.
He guessed that the people must have retreated inside their buildings, or what was left of them, by now if this situation was as much unexpected for them as it was for him.
Klein focused back on the vehicle that was still beeping and took precautions as he approached, looking through its front window and inspecting the interior.
'How well made... Is it powered by a magic stone? How rich' Klein thought with a scoff.
The vehicle was obviously damaged, and some liquid was leaking from its behind. Inside, he could make out one person sitting in the front seat. He couldn't tell if they were alive or dead.
After only a second of deliberation, Klein knocked on the window.
"Hey hey, are you okay in there? Not dead are you?" Klein raised his voice so that anyone within earshot would be able to hear him.
More curtains shifted from the buildings and broken houses around him, but Klein pretended not to notice.
After a while of trying to stir the person within the strange vehicle, he heard hesitant steps from behind him.
Casually turning around, he saw a young woman in her twenties. She paused as he faced her, and he made an expression of confusion.
"Yes, young miss? May I help you?" Klein asked as he observed the rest of the surroundings. Having been trained in magic combat, he was always preparing himself for unexpected situations, always half-casting various spells before dispelling them just shy of a full cast, and then repeating the process.
"I-i-s there someone inside?" The woman asked. She seemed to be a native townsfolk.
"Ah yes. It seems so. I was just wondering where the rest of these people who came from nowhere went, honestly. They should still be alive somewhere, right? Have you tried talking to them?" Klein said as he continued knocking the car window.
"Ah, that... we tried a few times, but it seems they don't speak Common" The woman said as she looked around. Some of the other townsfolk also emerged from broken alleys and from behind buildings. It seemed that the town was worse off, as there was barely any place remaining for them to stay.
It seemed that the casualties were kept to a minimum, however, thanks to Mr. Weather's quick response.
"Hm. Don't speak Common you say?" Klein smiled at the thought.
'Aliens, then, maybe? Who doesn't speak Common aside from the barbarians of the East? And these clearly aren't those' Klein's interest was beginning to peak. If that was true, and if the whole continent was currently in a similar state as this town, that meant that things were going to change.
And that, for Klein, was a heaven-sent blessing.
Amidst his thoughts, the vehicle next to him gave off a strange sound.
Klein quickly retreated and brought the woman he was with away from the sound. In the next moment, it caught fire, and a few moments after that, it exploded.
'...' Klein's thoughts remained blank, and he tentatively reached for another thought in order to make sense of what just happened.
'Self-explode enchantment?'
He wasn't the only one who was speechless. The other townsfolk had also witnessed the scene and were far enough away to remain unaffected, were equally dumbfounded.
"What..."
"Why would they make an exploding carriage?"
"Is it something like 'if I can't have it, no one can?'"
"Is it even a carriage?"
"Why would someone be in it? And why would it have wheels?"
"A suicide device maybe?"
"But why are there so many of them on the street? Do these people want to kill themselves?"
"Weapons? Do they kill their own soldiers to kill more of their enemies?"
"Scary..."
Klein nodded along as heard the townsfolk discuss the strange vehicle.
Were his hypotheses wrong, and they were actually under attack? If that was the case, wasn't this method a bit too...
'Inefficient?'
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone