Mathew

For the first time in several days, he found himself with downtime. A looming threat of drawing an Alpha monster’s attention put pressure on them, but he didn’t have a lot to contribute right now.

With his health bundled against his injuries, they wouldn’t bring him down. It was surreal looking at the injuries that belonged alongside the screams and moaning of a burn unit. How much pain could have been avoided this way?

With no status fixture raised, no skills to employ and his magic depleted, the mental recovery was comparatively easy. After taking a moment to recover, he committed the conflict to memory. Lack of intelligence. Not scanning was a chronic problem and he committed to not making that mistake anymore.

Pride, Mathew let himself relax because he thought that the struggle arrayed against him wasn’t that bad. Sure he’d seen how deadly the Alpha was but he also was able to see through its stealth. Between that, the shelter and the two girls having made it to Leternum, he’d relaxed. As if his transition was overkill.

Not armoring well enough. Mathew’s jaw clenched. So much focus on not losing his quality of life that he’d neglected to fully prepare himself. Even looking at his injuries now, everything that landed where he didn’t have defenses was far worse.

At least one laser had shot clean through his arm, inches away from a scorch mark on his bracer. The power of that contrast clawed some piece of him apart. Like a grudge, he held it together.

It wasn’t just him though, some girls, a kid and an old man were now in his world. Angrily he released his hold. Giving up even more of his sense of touch for others was the right thing to do. But dammit, he didn’t have to be happy about it.

Doesn’t matter yet. There was healing to do. Both to his health pool and to his body. Both would take reserves and he didn’t have any frame of reference for how much it would take. Crafting more wasn’t something he had to do right away. Reserves still limited his choices.

Mathew decided to slot his Alpha phage skill with rock tooth slime at the next opportunity.

Closing his eyes, he tried to enjoy the mattress and the rest. He’d earned it. Unpacking the ember of warmth he felt at running into the fight, Mathew basked. Today he had lived as a man he could be proud of. He’d earned a rest.

Ironically that was enough to get him moving. A short rest and the security of knowing he was worthwhile gave him the motivation to move again.

Swinging his legs off the bed, Mathew picked up Ripper as he stood. Pain still tugged at him but it was almost something he could ignore if trying hard enough.

Before rejoining everyone in the central area, he checked out the rest of the facilities. The craftsmanship was both excellent and awful. Never had he seen such tightly blended woodwork. Each piece fit together with its joint disappearing into infinity. It wasn’t square, plumb or level. Sure it was close but a trained eye could catch the difference. This is probably the only time he’d ever see such curious work.

Opening the door, he looked at the commode. Water tank, ‘s’ bend, the works. All made of wood, it was curious for sure. With care not to damage anything with his claws, Mathew opened the fairy-sized door beside the toilet. It was stylized as an outhouse with a crescent moon cut out, inside a fresh roll of quilted TP with flowers sat there.

Even though it was downstream of magic, Mathew found it inspiring. This was a piece of art. Sure, that may be stretching the term but there was room for art between the cracks of how demands stacked together. Closing everything back, he left to rejoin everyone in the main area. Ben was reading, Harper was looking at some blue mushrooms and Amber was glaring at scattered monster parts.

“How can I help?” Mathew asked.

Ben answered first. “Get better. Burns are a hassle to heal up. Even with the new nature of this world, burns are the worst.”

“I can’t sit around and do nothing for… how long do you think it’ll take for me to heal up?” Mathew asked.

“Don’t have a clue. Your fixture may be able to answer that for you, though.” Ben replied.

Trading willpower for knowledge, Mathew got distracted right away.

[Carrion Solider 100% to level 1]

“Anything I should know before leveling up?” Mathew said.

“I honestly don’t know enough. Not enough information to be sure. Grant and I kinda stayed away from everyone else.” Ben said. “You have to activate the process and then you restart at 0% progress to the next level.”

Doing so, Mathew felt himself being adjusted by the world. The flavor he associated with notifications, sterile blue screens, became a crashing tide to his senses. All he was became bolstered. Echoing through him, waves of power made changes. Impossible to identify components were stacked and adjusted until it settled. Trying to catch the details was futile within the overwhelming flood.

[Mathew Gains Starling ~ Fate Breaker

Otherworld Human/Carrion Beast Hybrid

Carrion Soldier 0% to level 2

Health 122/400

Reserves 113

Magic digestion:

Digestion points 7/350

Body Total 30 (+5)

Strength 7.2

Agility 6

Durability 8.4

Endurance 8.4

Mind Total 20 (+4)

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Willpower 4.8

Cognition 3.6

Resistance 7.2

Resilience 4.6 (+1 body mind reflection)

Combat skills

Living skeleton weapon 20 (+1)

Bone regeneration 4 (1 synergy feedback)

Mental resistance 8 (+1)

Conditional Ambush 12 (+1)

Mental attack 10 (+1)

Crafting skills

Living skeleton weapon 20(+1)

Utility skills

Digestion 19 (+1)

Controlled evolution 2 (+1)

Scan 2]

Endurance dictated recovery of the body. Along with all the information he’d read before, another chunk was tacked onto the end.

[… Crafting damage is governed by endurance and resilience. Recovering empowered tissue to full strength takes longer than just healing the area. The more the tissue is empowered, the longer it will take. Higher endurance recovers empowered tissue faster.]

The status fixture didn’t have anything about how long it would take for him to recover fully. Ah well, he did say maybe.

“Do the stat gains compound?” Mathew’s eyes bugged out, working out what that would mean.

“Yeah, they do.” Ben grinned.

“You want to break the news or me?” Amber asked, her usual smile absent.

Ben’s grin soured. “You know him better.”

“We got a little more than a week to get Grant up and running, so’s they can skedaddle before an Alpha turns us into a flashy can of sardines. After that, we got maybe another week to sort out how the large town made it for so long or we’ll have to pick up being nomads, and hope.” Amber laid it out without looking up from her sorting of glass monster shards.

Silence drew out. Ben planned on leaving them after being saved. Mathew couldn't blame him.

“The monster’s power compounds too, doesn’t it.” Mathew already knew the answer. “And they’ve had a lot of time to build up. Alright control what we can. How do we get Grant to recover?”

“There are probably answers in the ruins.” Ben waved the leather book. “Whatever bit him was in there. Maybe if we could get it we could make an antidote.”

“I can look through the books I brought and see if I can find anything useful.” Harper had an edge to her gaze Mathew hadn’t seen before.

“Ben, you’ve been there before; what do we need to bring?” Mathew asked.

“A high-level sneak skill. The sort you’d get from the time dilation and transition skill boost. That was why Grant and I could go in together.” Ben clenched his fist. “Even then, my magic wasn’t strong enough. No this time I go alone.”

Ben’s words said he was picking up a burden but his shoulders crumpled forward under the weight. Before Mathew could say anything, Harper jumped in. “Not without support, though. I’ve got an apothecary skill. If I keep working on it, I should be able to provide consumables with special effects. I’ve made one before, I can do it again.” Harper’s lip quivered. “If I can’t fight beside you, I’ll help you fight better and safer.” Tears glistened under the glow of the magic lamp as they flowed down her cheek.

That look of failure, shame and pity directed at Mathew's burned self didn’t sit well. So many things to set straight but it didn’t look like they would have time for it though.

“I’m not going until I do something to repay all you guys have done for me and Grant.” Ben straightened. “It’s midday so I’ve still got some time to hunt. Big man there is going to be sucking down food to heal.”

“I’ll go too.” Amber stood up. “So we can get stuff for Harper to work with. My free scan will do wonders to gather useful what’d you call ’em?”

“Reagents.” Harper offered.

“It’s dangerous. Those monsters are more than we thought they would be.” Mathew objected.

“Still got fourteen in the mag and Ben will be with me. I’ll be fine hoss.” Amber said.

“Before it gets dark then.” Ben stood.

Clasping hands and giving a gentle bro-hug, Mathew spoke. “Take care of Amber and yourself.”

“Take care of Grant.”

“What, you don’t want me to take care of Ben?” Amber’s fake hostility was thinner than usual.

“Nah, you’re going to do what you want, Freedom Zealot.” Mathew joked.

Then they left.

Waiting around sucked. Harper was stuck in her tablet, trying to collate the medical information. Not being able to spend reserves yet held him back from crafting himself, and being injured meant he couldn’t really train.

Mathew started looking around. All the monster parts were over in a corner where the glass shards were being sorted. Amber had made three big piles and four smaller ones, and for the life of him, Mathew couldn’t figure out how some got where they went.

Looking around more, he took an inventory of the food they had left. Without standardization, he was guessing at their remaining resources. Looked like they had gone through maybe five or ten percent so far. So if he wasn’t chowing down too badly, they’d have ten to twenty days of food.

“You’re pacing. Sit down, read a book.” Harper handed him the sewn folds of leather Ben had been reading.

“Sorry.” Mathew took the book and sat down under the light beside her.

White inking was spread over the book in flowing precise script.

South, south-east Territory (053 on map) scouting report. Scout Fred.

An unusual Territory, the apex monsters only roam during the daytime. While it is used as a thoroughfare during the night for scouting and raids, no Alpha takes up residence over the Territory while the apex monsters are away from the border. This behavior allows a unique opportunity for the Alphas sharing a border with this Territory to have more effective neighbors. The increased complexity of relationships increases the opportunities for valuable aggression. As such, the nearby Alphas seem to be, for lack of a better term, bloodied. I know Doc will hate the lack of precision when he reviews this, but it’s the best words I have.

Physiology of Territory natives:

“Hey,” Harper interupted. “I’m sorry about giving you trouble when they showed up. I’m not a confrontational person. My magic gives me a courage I’m not used to. So for that, I’m sorry. I’m not sorry we opened the door and saved them. But it’s not fair of me to treat you like that. You go and get burned over my decision and that’s not right. So long as I have magical courage, I’d better tell you I’m sorry.”

The second time’s a charm. Keeping his voice low, Mathew started.

“Who decided I was going to run out there?”

“You did.”

“Are you sorry I got to make that choice for myself?”

“No.”

“See, there it is. So what are you sorry about.”

“When I called it my Hub. It might be, but you’re putting your body and your life on the line for this… this team. That makes this your Hub too.”

“We are all dealing with shit. You’ve done good by me Harper. I mean that. So forgive yourself, okay?”

“Okay.” Harper leaned in and gave Mathew a tentative half-hug.

Mathew couldn’t tell if she was worried about getting hurt or of hurting him. So he waited. Then gave a tentative half-hug back.

“Find anything for Grant? This one looks like a scout record.” Mathew changed the subject.

“Nothing viable so far. Making an anti-venom isn’t exactly bushcraft. There is one but I don’t think we have the resources.”

They lapsed into a companionable silence but the more he read the more sour his mood became. Mathew found the out-of-context reports frustrating but that wasn't the worst part. What he could gather was that the bindings he was reading were a collecting of reports from every division of the town. Delivered to and coordinated by some Doc character. They were looking for something to resolve a sickness. Constantly assigned to some task that would further the crude science they had cobbled together. Mathew was getting a clear image that this sickness was what brought the colony down. Hybrid sickness.