NOVEL WEB Chapter 4
Kyle wiped the sweat off of his forehead as he crested the ruins of a fallen building. He and C.H.A.D.D. had been travelling for a couple of days, and were now near the far edge of Newton. While they were still a long way from getting to Nierburg, he felt that they were making good time. Unfortunately, their travels had been incredibly quiet, finding no additional survivors as they went. There were… a lot of bodies. People were strewn across the streets, animals both in the cities and along the road having fared no better. They hadn’t tried to sift through rubble to further explore, but C.H.A.D.D.’s scanners didn’t pick up any signs of life.
Kyle had seen enough death in their short time travelling that he was in no hurry to find more beneath the stones. The only stops they made regularly were in small convenience stores, picking up clean water where they could and replenishing the stores of food before they left the city limits. They got particularly lucky in one such store, coming across a dented but otherwise unopened can of lighter fluid and a book of matches. These were rare anymore, as most kitchens had mana-powered cooking ranges, but being on the frontier there were enough people living in Newton that still liked to camp in the old world way.
Kyle looked out over the horizon; the mountain range he’d grown so accustomed to seeing now barely visible at the edge of his vision. He remembered time spent outdoors with his grandfather and watching the crazy old man scale sheer cliff faces like they were nothing, dreaming of one day being able to catch up. It felt so… recent. So real. Memories from well over a decade ago causing pangs of longing and grief for what he had lost. His parents lived east, hundreds of kilometers away from the city he and Clark had called home these last seven years.
He hoped his parents might have made it despite the odds, but he had seen enough destruction even this far away from the blast to know that hope was likely misplaced. For a brief moment grief threatened to overwhelm him, but his grandfather’s final exhortation and his training took over. He knew he’d have time to grieve when he got to safety, but for now he needed to stay focused. Kyle closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and took inventory of his situation.
Step one, gather information. Kyle evaluated his supplies, and while he had plenty of food for a while, he knew it wouldn’t make the whole trip. Water, on the other hand, was much scarcer. Frankly, this was going to be his biggest challenge, and he wondered idly if REGENERATION and HEAL would be enough to help deal with the effects of drinking unpurified water. He filed that away as a top priority as he continued thinking about his circumstances.
Physically, Kyle was doing much better than expected. His REGENERATION ability had all but negated the impact of the chaotic mana on his body, and as an unexpected benefit he had gained levels rapidly as he used his new ability to heal in a way that he hadn’t before. Just this morning he had crossed to level 23, and he felt confident that even if his pace of levelling slowed he’d still be likely to grow to level 30 or beyond. With another skill likely to appear at level 40, Kyle felt confident that he’d still be able to gain a skill that would secure him a better position as humanity rebuilt.
Idly, the thought crossed his mind that if he hit level 40 he’d be one of the premier Healers throughout the entirety of the Central Health organization, a realization that brought him back to focus. Kyle had grown more in the past week of surviving this wasteland than many healers grew in five years. It was rare for anybody to progress their profession past level 30 anymore, and yet Kyle was rapidly approaching the bottleneck that would stop most people.
He thought about his grandfather, the last remaining D Grade human on the planet. The stories he’d heard, the scars of the tribulations that he carried with him even into his old age. Clark didn’t live an easy life, but the fruits of struggle and tribulation were plain to see. The easy, comfortable life that Kyle and so many others had been living wasn’t a path to level progression. If he made it out, Kyle resolved he'd write a paper on mana system theory with this as evidence. The Central Authority always made it a point that they understood and prescribed the path to highly efficient mana cultivation, but given that he’d leveled more in a scant few days than he had in the previous six months, there was no doubt in his mind that they were overstating the effectiveness of their methods.
He snapped back to focus when he heard a rustling sound nearby. His first thought was that C.H.A.D.D. had floated off somewhere, but he saw the drone floating lazily by his side. He looked for the source of the rustling sound, but wasn’t able to pinpoint it.
“C.H.A.D.D., can you scan the area? I hear something, maybe it’s a survivor!” Without waiting for the reply, Kyle called out: “Hello! If anybody’s trapped here don’t worry, I’ll do my best to help you! Help me find you!”
Kyle heard the rustling sound intensify, and suddenly from behind a some broken rocks a beetle the size of a large dog charged forward and knocked him off his feet.
“What the hell is this?” Kyle screamed in surprise, barely managing to toss the beetle off his body and regaining his feet before it charged him again, mandibles chattering.
[DIAGNOSIS COMPLETE. IT IS A LARGE BUG DR. MAYHEW.] Kyle turned to look at the drone, bewildered.
“That’s not a helpful diagnosis at… AAAAHHH!” Kyle was cut short as the beetle took advantage of the distraction, fluttering towards him and latching onto Kyle’s arm with its powerful jaws. Blood flowed freely from Kyle’s arm, and he immediately began to panic. On the list of things he’d expected to have to handle, Doberman-sized beetles out for blood hadn’t even crossed his mind. He was in pain, still taken by surprise, and felt way out of his element. The beetle released his arm, and Kyle fell backwards.
The beetle scurried towards him again, it’s shiny black shell gleaming in the light as it made for his face, mandibles open. Kyle barely managed to interpose his wounded arm again, taking a second set of deep cuts. I could die here. Kyle thought to himself. I could really die here. That cold realization struck him, and in a moment his internal turmoil turned into an eerie calm as chills broke out across his body. No.
Kyle focused on the beetle, its legs ineffectually clawing at his chest, trying to get a better grip to keep biting. I am not going to get eaten by a damn bug. The beetle flapped its wings in an attempt to push towards Kyle’s face. I did not make it this far to DIE TO A TWICE-DAMNED BUG!!!! Kyle felt adrenaline course through his body as a snarl escaped his lips. He had fought so hard, buried so much, worked tirelessly to stay clinical and rational since his grandfather died.
He leaned forward, the creature’s mandibles digging deeper into his left arm. With his right he reached across to the beetle’s back and ripped off one of its gossamer wings. The insect reeled backward in surprise at the movement, releasing its grip on Kyle’s arm. The snarl grew into a roar as Kyle grabbed the beetle’s head, turned, and smashed it into the side of what used to be an apartment building. His rage growing, Kyle smashed the beetle against the same block of concrete again and again, ichor running down his arms and mixing with his blood.
Kyle dropped the beetle, exhausted. It lay motionless on the ground, and Kyle slumped down next to it, weeping bitterly. His family was dead. His coworkers were dead. His life, his apartment, everything he’d worked for meant nothing in the face of this new reality. The pain of his losses, the staggering weight of his solitude collapsed on him with all the force of a falling star.
[DR. MAYHEW, YOU HAVE TAKEN SEVERAL SEVERE LACERATIONS ON YOUR LEFT ARM, AND FURTHER DAMAGE ACROSS YOUR CHEST. LACERATIONS ARE RUNNING FROM YOUR RIGHT CLAVICLE TO YOUR FLOATING RIBS. HEALING ADVISED WITHIN THE NEXT SEVEN MINUTES TO PREVENT PERMANENT DAMAGE]. Kyle, still sobbing, was stirred as he heard the message from his little drone. That was something he had trained for day in and day out – listen to the diagnostic and take action. He wasn’t okay, he knew he was a long way from it.
The psychological trauma of what he’d been through wasn’t something you could just use mana to heal way. But enough of the grief had passed that he was able to slip into the old routine. He looked at his mangled forearm and used HEAL to begin treatment. Surprisingly, the wounds were somehow… resisting his ministrations. He doubled down his focus and felt a foreign energy present within the wounds. It wasn’t a toxin or bacteria, but it was as if the chaotic energy in the air had somehow entered the wound through the beetle’s bites.
Still, Kyle’s focus on Intelligence and Willpower prevailed. It took much longer than anticipated, but within the hour Kyle’s body was back near top form. For the first time since the battle, Kyle looked at the beetle. Its head had been crushed against the wall, but the body itself seemed relatively intact, with the exception of the wing he’d ripped off. Looking at its powerful legs and robust body, he had a thought. “C.H.A.D.D., can you tell if this thing is poisonous?”
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