World Apocalypse: Apocalust

Chapter 39: Chapter XXXIX - Domain

Moments earlier.

Noah stepped into the kitchen with a backpack hanging from each hand, their straps looped loosely around his fingers. Levy’s felt noticeably lighter than his own, though the difference was hardly worth noting anymore.

When he reached the kitchen, Noah set both backpacks down on the wooden table before pulling open the first one. He began unloading their contents brick by brick, placing each item across the tabletop as he sorted through everything they’d managed to collect during their time outside.

He had just reached for another item when he felt the weight of an unseen gaze settle on the back of his head. The sensation wasn’t particularly strong, but it was apparently distinct enough that he had been able to pick up on it immediately.

He turned his head and glanced over his shoulder, his eyes sweeping across the hallway.

Nothing. The hallway was empty.

Noah narrowed his eyes for a moment before glancing back toward the kitchen.

Weird.

He shrugged it off. With everything his senses had been picking up lately, perhaps he was becoming a little too aware of his surroundings.

Turning back to the table, Noah resumed unloading the bags, unaware that Sage had been the source of the gaze he had just felt. He continued sorting through their belongings, oblivious to the fact that, only moments later, she would experience something far stranger.

After finishing, Noah turned around and leaned against the table, half-sitting on its edge. He barely noticed the box of bandages underneath him until the corner pressed against him.

"Whoops."

He quickly shifted to the side, rescuing the box before he could crush it beneath his weight.

With that taken care of, Noah rested his hands against the edge of the table and stared ahead. A thought he’d pushed aside earlier that day slowly resurfaced, creeping back into his mind now that they were home and, for the moment, safe.

Now that I’m home, when’s a better time than now to use that?

He couldn’t think of one.

Noah opened his Status screen, ignoring nearly everything displayed there. His eyes skimmed past his level, attributes, and other information until they settled on the section he was actually looking for.

His skills. More specifically: Domain.

A tiny sphere of blackness materialized in the air before him. It hung motionless in front of Noah, impossibly dark against the surrounding room, as though a fragment of the void itself had suddenly appeared.

No larger than a pea, the strange sphere remained perfectly still for a moment. Noah stared at it, his hand slowly lowering to his side as it began to expand.

The sphere grew to the size of a marble.

Then a ping-pong ball.

Then a soccer ball.

And it kept growing.

Noah’s eyes widened as the sphere continued to expand, quickly growing beyond anything he could reasonably comprehend. Then again, he supposed he’d left "reasonable" behind the moment he manifested a barrier out of thin air in that apartment.

The dark surface passed through the kitchen walls without resistance, then through doors and windows as though the solid barriers weren’t there. No matter what stood in its path, the sphere continued outward, encompassing more and more of the world around him.

The farther it spread, the harder it became to comprehend its size.

Soon enough, Noah lost track of where the sphere ended. Only after the sphere had expanded far beyond his immediate surroundings would he finally catch sight of it through the kitchen door.

Before then, a violet screen materialized before Noah, its translucent surface hovering in the air as the black sphere disappeared from sight.

〔Domain〕

〔Tier: Unique〕

〔Type: Passive〕

〔Description: The selected area is recognized as the user’s personal Domain. Within its boundaries, the user gains complete awareness of the surrounding space and may expend AP Points to modify, expand, and upgrade structures and features within the Domain. This ability’s functions will upgrade alongside the user.〕

Noah read through the description once more, his eyes lingering on the final line before something else caught his attention.

Levy.

He stood just beyond the kitchen doorway, watching Noah with a faint smile that seemed to say, Of course.

Of course Noah would be the one to cause something strange to happen.

The two held each other’s gaze for a moment, though Noah’s attention remained divided, his eyes repeatedly flicking back to the violet screen hovering before him.

AP?

His brow furrowed.

What’s AP?

Another violet screen materialized before Noah, its translucent surface shimmering faintly as it hovered in the air.

〔AP = Apocalust Points〕

〔Description: Points are awarded upon the completion of quests or missions that offer AP Points as a reward.〕

Noah stared at the screen for a moment, reading it twice.

So that’s what it meant.

His gaze shifted back toward the Domain screen.

Apocalust Points... and I can use them to modify things within my Domain.

The implications of that were immediately more interesting than the name itself.

Noah’s gaze drifted away from the screens and toward the kitchen around him.

Something felt different.

Not visually. Nothing had changed—not as far as he could tell. The cabinets were still where they’d always been, the table remained beneath him, and the faint scent of whatever had been cooked recently still lingered in the air.

But Noah could feel the room; it was difficult to describe.

His awareness seemed to stretch beyond his body, reaching into every corner of the kitchen without requiring him to turn his head. He could sense the walls surrounding him, the furniture occupying the space, even the empty areas between them.

It wasn’t quite like seeing but more like knowing.

Is this what it means by complete awareness?

Immediately, the space seemed to unfold inside his mind.

The couch. The coffee table. The television.

His attention shifted farther. First the hallway then into the bathroom.

Noah paused.

There was no need to physically look. Her presence simply registered within the strange awareness that now surrounded him, a quiet certainty settling somewhere beyond his ordinary senses. For the briefest moment, he knew exactly where she was—standing before the mirror, her reflection framed in the glass as the sink continued to run.

Then, almost instinctively, Noah pulled his awareness away. The connection vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

He hadn’t meant to intrude.

Whatever this ability was, he didn’t want to make a habit of peering into places—or at people—without their knowledge.

A few moments later, he heard the bathroom door open.

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