Oath of the Survivor

After selecting the skill, Kyle watched in anticipation as the options were outlined.  As before, the impressions were general in nature, although the names of the options said a lot.

DESTRUCTIVE RESONANCE: This upgrade felt like a natural progression of his offensive application of the skill.  He felt that pieces of the skill would be lost, no longer allowing him to use the skill for its original purpose. Which, in fairness, he hadn’t often used.  Instead, it would specialize into a focused Willpower attack.  Given how high the attribute was, Kyle had no doubt this upgrade choice would radically improve his combat ability.  Even if the upgrade was unintended, it was tempting by virtue of power alone.  Still, he moved on to the next choice.

RESONANT BURST: The second option was much more in line with what he’d been working towards.  Constant practice and reflection on STORM SHELTER helped Kyle develop a deep understanding of how he projected his mana, and using RESONANCE in conjunction with the skill further improved that knowledge.  If he chose this upgrade, he would be able to effectively “fire” a bolt of energy over a respectable distance.  It would allow him to form a connection without physical contact, though it would weaken the farther away his target was.  Still, even a weak connection would be sufficient for many of his ideas.  Otherwise, it would allow him to use the skill in all the ways he’d grown accustomed to.  It would open the door to many new possibilities, enhanced further by the revelation of C.H.A.D.D.’s ability.  Pushing that aside, he fixed his eyes on the final option.

PARASITIC RESONANCE: His final choice was by far the most interesting.  It appeared to carry some aspects of RESONANT BURST in that it would offer some range, though instead of a burst of mana it allowed him to extend multiple tendrils to connect to targets within a dozen or so meters.  While this skill was weaker in almost every way, it also came with a unique property: the longer and more often Kyle stayed connected, the more influence he could exert through the bond. 

While he wasn’t sure how long the effect would take to show noticeable results, the potential was incredible.  Against a monster like the Endless, all he would have had to do was avoid attacks at a distance while the connection intensified, allowing him to more easily deal the decisive blow.

At this point in his consideration, DESTRUCTIVE RESONANCE wasn’t on the table.  Despite the power, it limited the flexibility of the skill too much.  Even in D Grade so far, Kyle’s Willpower had yet to face a real challenge.  With every level the attribute grew, and Kyle’s reinforcement through free attributes made it truly monstrous.  He was still more than capable of dealing death with the skill as necessary.

The only thing preventing Kyle from choosing PARASITIC RESONANCE came down to two considerations: the range difference and the implications associated with the skill.  As things currently stood, a dozen meters was plenty for most of the encounters Kyle had been in.  However, he couldn’t discount that longer range offered more flexibility in a strict sense, which was worth noting due to his broad lack of experience with D Grade combat. 

The biggest issue he had was what the skill implied.  While it would be incredibly effective against the powerful opponents he faced, Kyle also understood that the increased efficiency was something that also applied to his allies.  The more he worked alongside somebody, the more influence he would be able to exert.  Given enough time, Kyle wasn’t sure that any of his allies would be able to meaningfully stand against him.

He considered long and hard, and made his decision.

Exiting meditation, he looked down at the messages on his nav bracelet, then over at C.H.A.D.D. 

“I should have called Rochelle back first, huh?”

[THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE WISER COURSE OF ACTION, DR. MAYHEW.]

Preparing to take the bitter pill waiting for him, he called the captain.  He hoped he’d get a shred of concern, but he wasn’t so fortunate.

“What the hell did you do, Kyle?  You armed the damn explosive and then decided to have a cup of tea?  What did you think was going to happen when it went off?  That it would gently lift you back to camp?  You know, I was beginning to think you weren’t a complete idiot, then you pull a stunt like this.”

Kyle grimaced as he received his dressing down until it was clear that she was waiting for an explanation.  “We were ready to leave, then we picked up a signal that we wanted to check out…”

His voice trailed off as his brain caught up with his words.  Mentioning the treasure would only lead to more questions.

“And you decided that the only logical decision was to go exploring with literal minutes until a D Grade explosive goes off?”

“Yes?”

“Did you at least find something worthwhile?”

“No?”

“...dammit Kyle.  Get back here as soon as you can.  This stunt didn’t save us any time, but we still need you for the rest.”

“Understood.  I’ll get to the rendezvous soon.”

“Our team left after the explosion.  Get running.  We’ll have somebody meet you on the road.”

Her communication clicked off, and the coordinates of the camp pinged to life on his nav bracelet.  He turned to C.H.A.D.D. and began getting it settled into the pack.

“That could have gone better.  What do you think?”

[VERY MUCH SO, DR. MAYHEW.  I’D RATHER NOT MAKE HER WAIT ANY LONGER THAN NECESSARY.]

“Good call.”

Following the direction of the nav bracelet, he walked over to where collapsed wood blocked the exit of the hollow.  Kyle tested pulling on some of the debris to see if he could move it.  Even with Exoskeletal Strength, it was a task beyond him.  The fallen wood was simply too heavy and well-lodged for him to effectively move it.  Fortunately, he had other options.

“C.H.A.D.D., I’m going to try to connect with you here.  Would you be able to use some of the seeds to help support the structure while I break apart the wood?”

[THAT SEEMS LIKE A BIT OF A WASTE, GIVEN YOU JUST SECURED ME IN THE PACK.]

“You can stay in the pack.  I just upgraded that skill; this is as good a time as any to test it out.”

With that, a tendril of mana emerged from Kyle’s back, winding into the C.H.A.D.D.pack.  Pulling out one of the seeds, he held it in his left hand while tendrils moved out towards the fallen wood.  Splinters flew as tree branches shattered, an arch of vines and roots rising over his head.  Kyle strode forward as the tendrils moved from piece to piece, C.H.A.D.D. providing the supporting structure as they moved.  In less than a minute, they exited the fallen tree. 

[DR. MAYHEW, THE NEW SKILL IS QUITE IMPRESSIVE.]

“Thanks, C.H.A.D.D.” 

Even though using PARASITIC RESONANCE drained quite a bit of mana when used in that way, the results were incredible.  Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to sit around and enjoy his handiwork.  Activating HASTE, he made his way back towards the Corthian Mining forward camp.

  ~~~

“About time you showed up, Mayhew.  We’re behind schedule, so grab a couple hours, then let our team know so we can get back to work.”

Kyle nodded at Rochelle, then went to the barracks tent where he lay down.  After a quick nap, he was on the road again, with strict orders not to deviate from the plan this time.  They arrived at the next target tree, and this time there was no treasure to be found.  It made sense in a way, given C.H.A.D.D.’s commentary that it was more from the forest as a whole than one individual tree. 

That did make Kyle curious about the large tree in the center, which towered above all the rest.  If anything was going to leave a potent natural treasure behind, he figured that would be it.  Still, he did his job admirably.  He dashed through the toxic mist with ease, carved a path through the caterpillars, and armed the explosive, retreating with time to spare. 

The next two trees went similarly, the only hiccup being a large green beetle that was happily devouring the final tree on his list.  It proved to be no match for a quick attack using PARASITIC RESONANCE, and the explosive was placed and detonated without any further issue.  When it was all said and done, they’d managed to complete this portion of the mission within the original timeline.  A fact Kyle was not going to bring up to the still-irate Rochelle.

Upon returning to the camp, he met Rochelle in her command tent to discuss the final leg of this excursion – hunting the Eye and exploring the tree.  She gestured to the projection on the table, highlighting part of the Eye’s course.

“The plan is simple from here, Kyle.  You’ll just need to get to this location to support our teams and keep the attention of the moth.  We have some firepower available from orbit, and with limited options for movement, the monster shouldn’t be able to avoid it.”

Rochelle continued to explain the logistics, highlighting the areas where they wanted to corral the giant moth. 

“We also have teams with smaller explosives that will be using rescue shuttles as makeshift bombers.  I can’t believe I have to say this, but I will.”

She looked him in the eyes.

“Don’t do anything stupid. Your job isn’t to fight the damn thing.  Your job is to keep it busy while we exterminate it.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Cut it with the ‘ma’am’ crap, Kyle.  I’m serious.  I heard from the higher-ups that the tree the moth is protecting might be a World-Tree class resource, or at least be producing some seeds around that level.  If it’s true, and we can get our hands on some of the seeds, the entire expedition would be worthwhile.”

Kyle’s breath caught as he heard the last part.  What the hell is a World Tree?  While he was choosing his words carefully, C.H.A.D.D. couldn’t help itself.

[I WOULD VERY MUCH BE INTERESTED IN SEEING SEEDS LIKE THAT, DR. MAYHEW.]

Rochelle looked at Kyle with an eyebrow raised.
“That’s not going to happen, C.H.A.D.D.  Those are far too valuable to give out.  Even if there’s only a minuscule chance one of them actually takes and grows, there’s always a market for them.  Besides, you’re not exactly going to be starting a garden anytime soon, little guy.”

While she spoke, a tendril of mana reached out from Kyle’s back and touched the drone.  Even though he didn’t dare to speak out loud, he hoped the message would be clear.  Not now.  The drone, blessedly, seemed to get the point. 

Seeming satisfied that they were on the same page, Rochelle dismissed them.

“Go get some rest and some food.  We move in three hours.”

~~~

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