"What a fucked up priest..." Said the short-haired man, sitting in the middle rear seat, a frown on his face.
"Well, well, am I annoying officer Kelliv? If you don't like talking about rhum or women, then I have the right topic for you." Sitting to the left of the short-haired man, the rear seat behind the driver, is a man wearing a black cattleman hat.
"No, thank you, I just want you to shut the fuck up." The short-haired man clinches his jaw trying to not yell, and the scar on his left cheek becomes more prominent as he does so.
"It's said in the Ghulunt stone, verse 32, surging demons is the first sign, and weak human giving their soul, betraying humanity is the second sign." As if not noticing the anger of his seatmate, the hat-wearing man continues with a smile.
"Haah, as if hearing it on the streets isn't enough." Muttered the short-haired man, or officer Kelliv, as the man in the hat called him.
"But do you know my dear colleague, there is a third sign?"
"Really? There is a third sign? But then again why don't I give a FUCK!" Not trying to hold his anger anymore, officer Kelliv bellowed, his face would've scared any kid brave enough to come near him.
"Fret not comrade I will light you with my knowledge." The priest, however, as if it was a routine, ignored the shouts of his angry seatmate.
"Cap, can you turn it on already?" A brash and feminine voice broke the duo's one-sided conversation. In the rear seat behind the front passenger, to the right of the short-haired man, sat a black haired woman, eyes closed, hands crossed, back straight. Her foot tapped as she asked the man seating in the front passenger.
"No, can't do, unless you want to push 2 Tonnes of steel when it runs out of gas." His eyes were fixed on the large paper map he was holding as the front passenger spoke.
"What?! Ms Mina, I thought you liked me talking about religion" The priest, eyes wide said.
"Liked? Yes, I liked when I had my Svelt in hands..." The woman, Ms Mina opened her eyes as she looked at the priest with a raised eyebrow "do you see Svelt in my hands?"
"I understand that Ms Mina misses her... mmh friend...? However I promise this is interesting, it's also what the team leader said. Right leader?" The priest not wanting to drop when it comes to his favorite subject, tried to get aid from the front passenger man.
"See?" Said again the priest.
"Don't give me that, fucker! He just ignored you." Officer Kelliv his patience has long reached its peak.
"Details, details. Anyway, the third sign is the birth of the deceitful fox."
"How much do we still have Cap?" Ms Mina asked again, not stopping her foot tapping.
"With our current speed, 50 minutes top." Informed the front passenger, Cap as he was referred.
"Do we have to go through the village first?" Since his attempts to shut the priest failed, he decided to direct to the Cap.
"Yes, we do." Affirmed the Cap.
"It isn't even near the wave path"
"Are you dumb? What about the detachments, only one is needed to decimate an entire village." Snapping at officer Kelliv's statement, Ms Mina said, bitterness clear in her voice.
"Oh is that so? Then you would know since you are a genius. It's useless. Us getting there is a waste of time, we should head to the facility directly."
"Wherever it's a waste of time or not, it isn't for us to make decisions, we got orders we follow." A gruff voice from the driver's seat prompted the end of the discussion.
"So as I was saying the deceitful fox-" The priest took it as his cue to relaunch his topic.
"But when the fuck will you shut up Hester, no one believes that crap anymore, even the poor are spitting at the church."
"That's... really unfortunate, however, had the noble council taken the church's advice, there would be fewer losses." For the first time, the priest's smile dimmed.
"Advice? You mean putting a leash on all the gifted." A dangerous glint in the eyes of officer Kelliv as he tried not to control his anger but his fists.
"Please don't p--"
"Enough you two." Said Cap "Only fools fight over dead things, you can be as foolish as you want when you get back, but not now, not here. We have a mission, and I require some modicum of concentration from all of you."
Silence finally regained the vehicle after the Cap reprimands. It stayed like that for some minutes, other than the sound of the tires crunching the dirt road, until the ever-silent man, the driver broke the silence.
"I want to hear about the fox."
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
"I certainly can't say no to officer Aguire." The priest happily obliged.
"Not again"
"So the fox, yes the deceitful fox is the third sign, weaker than a cub, trickier than a wolf, once born it will lead all the fallen and traitor humans against the world."
"Can't you make an exception once Cap?" She may have more patience than officer Kelliv however, it's clear that she too is reaching her limit.
"Still no, Roney. But nothing is preventing you from singing yourself."
"Singing? Do you know that I participated in the church's organized choros seven years ago at the capital?" The priest's eyes were almost shining as a baby finding a new toy.
"...of course you did."
"My favorite is bell' O bell. It goes like this..."
"...fuck"
***
I took a pinch of salt and sprinkled it on the meat before rubbing it, making sure all the pieces were well coated. I had to cut it up since I wasn't confident in my cooking skills. I also removed or at least tried to remove the bones. I then put the meat in the pan before seating it directly on the red ember. Unfortunately, no oil, I'm already lucky enough to find salt or even a pan.
I tried not to sigh as I crouched at the hearth, waiting for the meat to cook while getting the coldness out of my hands and bones.
...such a waste.
I struggled to suppress the regrets with no success. No matter how I try to justify it, an 8mm bullet on a hare is a waste. Especially when such a bullet could be the difference between life and death.
I shuddered as I recalled yesterday's nightmare.
After the incident, I headed directly to the cabin. By the time I arrived, I was staggering, teetering, and lumping to the bed, like a drunk man. I don't even remember most of it other than the infernal, skull-cracker headache, that persists even now.
It was midday when I woke up. Most of my body was sore, hurt, and bruised. Fortunately, nothing too serious, no bone breaking or severe bleeding. But what I am most grateful for was no surprise monster attacks while I passed out. Truthfully, I don't think I would've been able to survive if there was.
Particularly when I won't be able to activate my ability for more than two seconds with all of the brain resources available at the time.
...brain or cerebral resources.
I used a found fork to flip the meat on the pan as it made a sizzling sound. The lack of cooking oil made itself clear as the meat clung to the pan. Making the flipping task difficult.
The savory aroma of the meat filled my nostrils as I started recollecting what I learned about the 'superpower' from yesterday and earlier when I hunted the hare. I was a little bit afraid that I won't be able to activate it as I did yesterday, however, I didn't have to. I just had to remember how I did it, pushing the emotion down like a switch, et voila.
At first hint, the ability is a hyper-focus state with a heads-up display. Thoughts are so fast that the world appears to move slowly. It also removes any distractions, meaning emotions and feelings have no direct effect on the mind, leaving only cold and calm reasoning. Which can be a bit spooky and valuable at the same time. On one hand, I can be professional as an experienced veteran. On the other, an emotionless human is disturbing, but I didn't let myself be bothered. For one, it's extremely practical, not being affected by fear saved me once already. And it isn't a permanent state.
It needs brain energy to sustain it.
When I activated to ability earlier, the Stale State, the state in which the ability runs at the bare minimum, its lasting duration is less than forty seconds. Which is almost less than half the duration of yesterday. And I attribute the drop to the lack of recovery, signifying seventeen hours aren't ample enough to recover from zero brain energy.
As for the head-up display element, is just for data visualization as far as I am aware. The minimum data to display are the Bar Mode and the Emotions Tally. The former is the blue progress bar at the top left corner, which indicates in percentages the remaining brain energy. In the Stale State, the 100% BM is equal to 68,6 seconds. And it correlates to the processing power I use.
The latter is a series of numbers, each number represents a variety of emotions. The numbers aren't percentages meaning the ceiling is unknown. Something that I haven't taken into account yesterday is that emotions can affect the brain's energy. The spiking fear and panic are one of the reasons why I quickly ran out of brain energy yesterday.
However, I will need more experiments to determine the impact emotion has on brain energy.
Other than BM (Bar Mode) and the ET (Emotions Tallies), I can also add charts or tables whatever I want to visualize, like adding a widget to the pc home screen. I can for instance a cardiogram or the count of remaining bullets. It helps in freeing some processing power.
The ability also offers extensive processing and memory pull. The SS (Stale State) allows some processing power too, like when felt that something was off with the loading that turns out to be the lack of ammunition. However, The SS is dependent on experience to get a viable result. While the extensive processing consumes a lot of brain energy, the end result is a series of viable possibilities even if the experience is lacking.
I stood up and stretched my aching arms before removing the pan from the flame and then placing it on the wooden table. The dead hunter would've been furious seeing me mistreat his table. It's unfortunate but no one will hear a dead man's cry.
I sat on the chair and began eating my first meal in a new world. Strange how it sounds, yet all my lamentations vanished when I encountered that horror. I felt like a kid getting his candy stolen before being kidnapped. Life only matters when you are alive. Anything else, previous life, current life, possessions, and relations can be rebuilt or acquired, even the body or appearance isn't that important. So for now staying alive is what matters.
Knowing my cooking skills, I didn't have much anticipation but the hare's meat turned out better than expected. A bit chewy, dry, and taste a lot like chicken, its aroma isn't the most pleasant nevertheless with an empty stomach ignoring that part is easy. Something I won't be able to do with deceased hunter's soup. The meat and vegetable soup found in the pot was my first target before the hare. I would've spared a bullet. However, in my agitation, I omit to close the lid before seeking the hunter. And cockroaches aren't the only insects in this cold forest that preceded me. I was irritated and surprised when I found them swimming, I mean cockroaches in winter?
The pocket watch shows past two when finishing the meal. I got up and then took the rifle, which now has a sling attached that I found on the shelve, and strapped it on my shoulder. I stored the knife that used to be a bayonet, in an easy-access front pocket on my coat. I looked at the axe, truthfully, I don't want to take it with me, it isn't sharp, and it will only weigh me down however I still grabbed it. I don't really know when it will be of help, and as I said before having something sharp better than not.
Time to go.
As much as this cabin appears comforting, it will be my coffin once the eleven remaining cartridges are used up. I need to reach civilization. I may have acquired some sort of superpower, but I doubt the monster will accept a math battle as a fight. There is no hard proof to suggest the existence of more than one monster, however, hoping otherwise is unwise. So with one last look at the room, I headed out. Two goals in my mind.
Survive and never let the fucking BM reach zero.