I stared up and gazed lazily at the impossible colours and whorls as I had done for the past-
Umm..
I groaned as my hand reflexively patted my leg to find a phone that probably would never, ever be there again. An archaic habit, by today's standards.
Hmph wow. Haven't done that in a while..But shit. How long has it been? 6 months? 7?!..I don’t even know anymore.
I brushed it aside and sat up, spotting Seren fast asleep next to me facing the opposite direction.
"We made it out Seren. Just like you said we would. We will get home." I absentmindedly looked at the maelstrom and clenched my teeth.
"And this time we make no more fucking stops. We will get the hell back home…"
I patted her on the shoulder and got up to sort my shit out. It had been weeks since I'd gained even a wisp of EXP, let alone levels, so I was interested to see if anything had changed.
GODUYNE
STRY.KYR - MAGN.81.413
HP 1580 / 1580
MP 1831 / 1831
EP 12%
DS 50%
SWRD 96
SHLD 95
FTHR 110
GLYP 126
22 Attribute Points Available.
24 Skill Points Available.
That's fucking righteous compensation right there. I'll take it.
Whether it was the corrupted I dropped, or the countless monsters and people I shredded to bits during my escape, I did not care. They were simply the nutrition to my survival now. A stepping stone. A morsel of protein for me to absorb and put to better use than their previous worthless existences had achieved.
They had their chance, they fucking blew it.
Not a single shred of guilt would be given to any of them.
I punched in my choices.
GODUYNE
STRY.KYR - MAGN.81.413
HP 1620 / 1620
MP 1887 / 1887
EP 6%
DS 45%
SWRD 99
SHLD 100
FTHR 117
GLYP 133
The numbers just kept climbing up and up. It had me thinking how far could it all go.
Was there a limit? Could I lift an entire building one day? Would it be possible to reach a point where I had the power of a hypothetical deity?
Weird.
It felt less impressive when I thought about it these days. Even when I recalled what my body and mind were capable of. All I could think about was getting more.
Becoming more.
This must have been how millionaires felt when it came to looking at their bank balances..Wonder if any of their bunkers helped them in the end. Ha. Probably not..Imagine hiding out for 30 days without levelling and then getting fucking stomped by a Not-Pidgy or a snoblin..
Snoblin being one of the monsters that I'd killed in the arena, a creature that looked NOTHING like the green, long eared, traditional ones. It had looked more like grey aliens, sporting two large goat eyes, a hollow nose with a small mouth.
Creepy little fucks, especially those lanky four fingers with one long spike that is attached to some kind of hinge joint on their wrist..
The worst thing about them however was that they commuicated and were very conniving, that made them vastly more dangerous and annoying then the mindless monsters.
Fuck Snow goblins..
As my upgrades adjusted my body, spikes of pain stabbed and sliced on my nervous system, muscle and bones like the nasty pre flu-fever jitters, it was still miserable, but it was getting much more mild and manageable.
I moved onto my bag of tricks.
24 Skill Points Available.
Skills
-> VI Null Surge
REQ: ENT Tier.
-> VI SMDS - Majiglyp
REQ: ENT Tier.
-> IV OMDC [8] (4+4)
Mass Drain now also triggers on high value area (HVA) hits.
-> III ANALYSE [50]
Vastly Expands data retrievable.
-> IV NEC [5]
Alerts user of corrupted proximity and tracks their location in real-time.
-> V Slipfold [10]
Allows precise control of fold area coverage. Unlocks Tetherfold. Connect two anchors to form a passive gateway that can be used independently by others. Maximum of 5 pairs of anchors.
-> III Phase Dash [3]
Phase dash now negates all physical damage during use.
-> II EXP Well [3]
You can now deploy [2] units.
-> IV Group Up [4]
EXP can be shared equally in the group.
-> II Mind Firewall [2]
Immunity increased to +10 current MAGN. You can share this skill.
-> III Null Claw Arma [3]
Null Claw Armament attacks now penetrates passive defence. Does not bypass active defense skills.
-> III Shade Glide [3]
Gain the ability to halt your movements and suspend in mid air.
-> II TEFv [2] Improves vision range and colouring.
-> III Shed Wound [3]
Gain resistance to fire, ice and decay damage.
New Hemasynthesis [1]
Restructures organs to allow blood drinking. All future nutrition, regeneration and growth comes from consuming fresh blood cells of compatible organisms.
New Blood Wrath [1]
For 30 seconds, increase all attributes by 25% at a flat cost rate of 25% maximum HP.
New Gigabeam [1]
Charge up and unleash a high powered beam of heat. (Overwrites Null Claw Armaments)
New UNIQUE! Jailbreak [0]
Your unconventional removal of a slave band has uncovered a hidden exploit. Grants immunity to lockdown and slave protocols regardless of tier.
I selected Blood Wrath and Jailbreak straight away and discarded the Hema-thingy, for obvious reasons, and the stupidly named Gigabeam due to overwriting another skill.
Then I selected the newly unlocked Slipfold ability and OMDC.
Mad healing when I hit shit and something that sounds like portal gates that others can use? Yeah. Sure. Alright then. Throw it in my basket.
I decided to bank the rest of the points because I felt like I'd finally gotten to a point where I could start to be picky, plus I was desperate to hurry off to bed once the ability upgrade training steps completed as my mind needed a reset after the whirlwind of change that had car crashed into my life in the past 12 hours.
For OMDC, I performed a few core moves but the strike points of my attacks trailed with smokey black shimmer that swirled around before returning to me.
Blood Wrath slapped my HP pool by -25% of the maximum and beads of red and black blood seeped out of all my pores before spreading around me like a dark fog.
But I could feel the increase in real time.
Oh I certainly feel it.
It was like having drunken strength whilst having crystal clear 'in the zone' laser focus.
My speed, strength and mind became super charged. It was intoxicating and the 5% increases from using surge attacks would provide some explosive potential.
Lastly came Slipfold and this involved a bit of weird new knowledge being injected into my brain as I remembered how to pull in the fold space towards my skin as close to myself as possible, or, I could balloon it slightly. It was weird to think about what I was physically doing, it was like blowing or sucking in air through my skin, but my body knew how to do it instinctively now, just like riding a bike..
And with testing the gateways, the portals appeared like small clear orbs of watery space, and when activated would expand to cover me like a blob monster and complete the Slipfold process.
Seren hadn't woken up during all this, a peculiar behaviour if I thought about her biological make-up, or lack of thereof should I say.
I guess the sleep is purely to recover from the mental toll? Or perhaps to enter a low power state so she can regenerate her Majik supply..Hmm I should ask her next time.
But since she was asleep, I went back to the large galaxy bed with its milky ways and Andromeda's, and graciously flopped down.
My mind felt good and my body was in a state of hyper relaxation; a feeling I could only describe as my lungs being full of a calm mist, with each breath softly stroking my breathing passageways. My actual body being in that clean and safe medical tent on that incredibly comfortable bed, with all those medical Majik injections and enhancements must have been doing wonders for me.
I proceeded to sleep like the dead.
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…
..
.
The camp was still bustling outside the canopy tent as I woke up, and for the first time in ages I felt warm, I felt comfortable and I felt pretty damn great.
There was a weight on the blanket covering my legs and I craned my neck up to investigate, only to find Siya curled up with her own blanket at the end of my bed with her head resting on my leg.
She performed a deep melancholic trilling sigh in her sleep and I couldn't help but grin.
There she is. And she's okay.
I leaned over and ruffled her hair. She kept her eyes closed but I saw the corner of her mouth twitch.
..and she's also pretending to be asleep.
I ruffled her hair again.
#Siya# Ahtchhha! Careful now 'Slow-du'. I am your better now. You must refer to me as 'master'.
She was grinning a toothy grin as she pushed herself up onto one arm.
Wow, her communication skills have improved, it is not as robotic as it used to be..
I snorted and grabbed her into a great big hug, forcing out some surprised squeaks that after a few moments, turned into deep calm trilly breaths that almost purred as she returned the embrace.
#Godu# I owe you everything Siya. I heard what you did for me. Thank you. Thank you so damned much for coming for me. I will never forget this, I swear.
She trilled..but no feathers could be heard ruffling. There were no wings left. And that stung.
#Siya# Hm well, now you know how I felt when you saved me. But as Grave would say "don't mention it kiddo".
She replicated Graves gruff voice well as she gently pulled back and patted my cheek.
#Siya# And do not worry about my lost wing..Don’t. I have an exciting new gift to show off.
She pranced up onto her feet and did a graceful twirl.
#Siya# Prepare to have your mind EXPLODE.
A raven black cloak unravelled from her back and rippled out. The material was so lightweight it floated like a mist and it seemed to be as thin as paper yet it looked sturdy and strong like teflon.
I stared in amazement, which quickly slipped into a frown.
#Godu# That's incredible Siya..But, how does it make up for your wings? I know you loved to fly and now?..
The cloak pulled itself back in and folded around her small frame. A hood formed and lifted over her head as she trilled and I heard a pleasant ruffling come from the material as it moved; the same crisp noise you get when you put on a fresh duvet cover and shook it into place.
#Siya# Come. We need to speak to the others first but, wait until we 'smack the road' and you'll see. You are going to be extremely impressed.
…
After getting 'discharged' from the medi-tent, I caught up with Vyolyn and Grave who appeared to be running most, if not the whole camp. When I asked the broad question of 'how?' they explained this was mostly achieved with a skill they had collected as a reward for completing the meet up task. The skill allowed them to add people to a roster list and assign them a role, such as builder, fighter, medic, and then issue tasks that would generate rewards based on their difficulty or effort required. What decided this was unclear but it seemed to be more on the same lines of natural progression. For example with chopping wood, the rewards would be physical exercise and experience using an axe. If you constructed a bunch of weapons, you would possibly learn better techniques or even new skills.
Go collect 10 wooden logs. Rewards: EXP.
Craft 10 spears. Rewards: EXP, new ability.
Patrol the east entrance. Rewards: EXP, items.
Truly knee deep in that RPG shit now.
..
I asked them what their next steps were and if I could do anything in return for their immense help, but they said not to worry and that they had plenty of long outstanding tasks to clear out the cube and build a settlement inside, and they had plenty of hands on deck to do so.
That was extremely interesting and fantastic as I really wanted to continue my travels back home so I was glad they didn't need me.
A small part of me however wondered if the cube was the target all along and not actually my rescue..
For the people I'd come with, Vamp and Kate had asked if they could stay to try and figure out how to get his collar off and generally try and etch out a survival, but Kjell and his family had already left to continue their journey back home to Sweden.
Shit. I should have told them I could have given them a lift part way..They didn't even say goodbye!
Oh well.
Siya hadn't left my side once as we moved about the camp, and it looked like most people knew her as she smiled and received waves from various people. There were places stock piled with clothes, foodstuffs and even a station supplying bags with a basic survival kit already packed up. Things such as a few light meals, water, small healing tonics and candles with matches. So we grabbed me one of those and some much needed fresh clothes; they were a pair of dark jeans, a fresh sleeved blue top and a zip up hoody. My boot greaves and gauntlets were self mending and cleaning so were still in premium shape, but I'd need to hit some stores along the way to grab something a bit more durable for the trip, even if it would certainly do for now.
I didn't argue with Siyas adamantine determination that she would be accompaning me on the road so that I wouldn't suddenly disappear again. Truthfully I was glad and it reinforced my initial survival rule of always having someone watch your back. She was a fantastic travel companion in all aspects.
And so after a few hugs and fist bumps, me and Siya exited the camp and hit the road once again, but I made sure to place a gateway point as I was sure I would come back to visit..one day.
…
..
.
So Siya was right. I was incredibly impressed as she showed me what her cape could do while we took it easy for the first mile and just walked whilst taking in the fresh air and letting the cube shrink off into the background.
The cloak was like a living organism in the sense that it could move by itself and it supposedly could block great amounts of damage. Which is cool and all, but the real amazing thing was that she could split it and spread each side out several metres and they would reform into slightly raggy but powerful looking wings.
They could certainly fly too. And even though she no longer had my shield wing or her own flesh one, this clearly was an upgrade, as she could wrap herself up like a cacoon and be completely protected.
#Siya# Now let me show you the absolute super-best part. Let's go for a quick fly.
#Godu# Uhh okay-WOAA!!
She picked me clean up off the ground, and with her new cloak wings and strength, she pulled me up into the air like it was nothing and then climbed some serious altitude before diving into a super fast glide. Admittedly I screamed a little bit at the dive.
#Siya# How great is this! I can maintain this for quite some time before I need a rest. AND I know which direction to go. Grave taught me. You humans are clever with your sciences and methods, Teehee!
I simply burst out laughing as we started to burn the distance, travelling far quicker in a straight line than I ever could using Slipfold on winding motorways. The ground far below us, possibly half or even a whole kilometre away looked unreal as it crawled underneath, and I suspected it still took a huge amount of effort and energy for her, but the results were..well.
It was utterly breathtaking.
..
After a mere couple of hours we reached the leaning tower of Pisa, which was still standing. But that was around 100-200km that we had made with little danger.
Although during our flight we had spotted the hulking forms of the colossals fighting or hunting out at sea, but much to my relief, none of them looked our way.
We rested and ate a snack at the top of the tower, because, why not, and we found evidence that people had been living up here but unfortunately no actual people could be spotted which was sad but I was on too much of a high to really care. And once Siya was sufficiently rested, we took off once more.
..
Another couple of hours went by and it came to the time where Siya needed another break. Coincidently, we unexpectedly spotted what looked like a large number of survivors in a vast makeshift settlement that looked to be thriving fairly well. There were walls with people walking up and down parapets, and there were the telltale faint translucent bubbles, indicative of sanctuary tech in play. But the main living areas had roofs covered in green gardens and people were running around like busy bees in other areas deconstructing buildings and constructing new ones with colourful sparks and pulses of Majik.
I wasn't about to rock up and say hello right-right now, but I sneakily placed an anchor on the closest empty field I could see, for potential future relations..
Potential being the keyword. They could be another bunch of cunts for all I know.
We decided on the roof of a block of flats further out and rested, with Siya having some more food and a quick nap before continuing.
It was starting to get very chilly, with the wind whipping our faces yet my body effortlessly maintained a comfortable temperature and Siya had no complaints either. In the fast approaching distance we could see mountains with ice caps, some of which we had to circle around as they were far too tall to go over safely.
It was surreal, how quiet places were and yet every so often there would be flashes of light, or powerful roars and sometimes even flurries of moving dots that looked like groups of people fighting in teams against large hulking frames or swarms of monsters.
It was a far cry from how populated these areas had once been..
..
We had just passed over a huge lake and decided on taking our next break at a deserted shopping park that was surrounded by a decent blanketing of snow.
It had degraded somewhat, with a few buildings being reduced to rubble, but other than that there were buildings that looked fairly untouched.
Outlet..boner..Is that for real?
Upon closer inspection, I could confirm it was not for real.
Some letters were missing and someone had intentionally or by miraculous chance moved the 'n' and then cut some of it off to form an ‘r’.
Very juvenile, but it earned a snort of amusement from me and then I found a smaller sign declaring the real name.
Outlet Aubonne. Not as fun..
We took a careful trip inside to find it was deserted. The sounds of dripping water and the whistling wind our only other companions. Not many signs of a big struggle or large groups attempting to barricade themselves inside which was odd. This is the kind of place I’d expect to attract flocks of people. Unlimited water and loads of supplies, tools and clothes.
Speaking of clothes, we broke into a sports shop to grab some more durable ones and the place had been completely untouched for some time now; nearly everything had dust on it, like an ashy frost that crept in.
I found my usual preferred articles which were dark green work trousers and a sleeved top with a weather resistant leather hiking jacket and exchanged my backpack for a slightly flatter one.
Looking at myself in the mirror for the first time in ages, I saw my dark hair was overdue for a cut, being long enough that it was just starting to get in my face. My beard was far too overgrown, making me look like a hobo.
My green eyes were most certainly shimmering now, and when I looked closer I stared in fascination as little lightning bolt veins in my iris pulsed, like an LED strip made up of azure blues to neon blacks having a silent crackling thunderstorm.
Siya also changed up her outfit now that her wings were gone. She showed me where her wing stumps had flattened and shaped into scar tissue patterns of angular geometric patterns, somewhat similar to my Majiglyphs engraved on my back.
Ha, damn. I had almost forgotten there was a time where I didn't have shields sprouting from my back. Weird.
But Siya had gone with a slightly oversized thermal hoodie that hung over her knees. No pants or leggings still. A very her style.
In one corner there was a rock climbing section with ropes, harnesses and the like, so we spent a bit of time getting kitted out so that we both wore vest harnesses and instead of her carrying me, I could just clip myself onto her harness like we were doing an instructor-led skydive, saving her a bit of energy from using her arms to carry me.
Before we left, I made sure to place a fold point and also I checked out the local maps and even a water proof European continent one that came with a good old fashioned compass attached. It confirmed we were in Geneva, Switzerland which was fucking bonkers, as it meant we had travelled something like 550Km in half a day, and my heart started racing at the thought that we could even reach the UK, home, before nightfall. But that excitement was quashed as the maps suggested we were still 800-900Km away from Calais, the ultimate goal that we were heading to as it was going to be the best place to cross safely.
I really did not want to come across some colossal fucker looking for a land based snack if we tried to sail across the larger gaps, and after a short consideration, I dismissed we’d just fine to go as straight as possible because knowing my luck we would get halfway and then drop into the sea for some unforeseeable damned reason.
The depths of the ocean..it must be biblical the things that are growing down there. All those fears of very deep water, Kraken's, giant angler fish and probably even pissing cthulhu at this point..Yeah no. Don't want nooo part of that.
A quick crossing was what I was after and my leading hope was that I should be able to see the white cliffs of Dover from Calais and just Slipfold across.
And if not? Well, fuck my life then..
I wouldn’t hold my breath on that.
..
Another two hours passed as Siya really pushed herself to keep going through rain, wind and snow. Our harnesses allowing her to fly for a bit longer thanks to no energy being wasted holding on to me, but now was the time to rest, much to her reluctance. To be fair, she could probably have kept going for longer, but I didn't want to introduce unnecessary risks to our incredible pace, since we had already covered tremendous ground. There was no need to jinx things as they stood, or rather, flew, so we decided on the nearest built up area and then went for a large fancy but dead and empty looking building called the Grand Hotel La Cloche.
That sounds like we're in BLOODY FRANCE!! HAAAAAA! We're getting so damned close!! Oh man, just another reason to cherish Siya! Saves my life multiple times, flies hundreds of kilometres carrying me in a single day..
It was a rather regal, prim proper looking building but after a short debate, we decided it would be best not to attempt to sleep out here and rather head back to the relative safety of the cube camp. But after a short conversation with Grave, he suggested we should sleep in the bunker because the camp was having quite a few attacks from monsters and the corrupted both from inside the cube, and out, so if we wanted to get a proper kip and not get dragged into a battle, the bunker was the better choice.
It was almost as if the cube attracted things to it for some inexplicable reason..
And so that was what we did. Slept in the bunker, woke up, checked in with Grave to make sure he was okay, had an MRE meal for breakfast and then returned back to the hotel rooftop; well rested and very ready in the dawning light.
If this was a game of hot and cold, we were practically scalding, and I was absolutely chomping at the bit to get to Calais and hopefully look over the channel and just see home soil.
Speaking of cold, it is snowing rather heavily!
The ground, the buildings, the trees, everything was covered in a thick layer of snow that reset the crappy degrading appearance of post apocalyptic life into a pristine white pleasant scene. It was rather ‘Majikal’ and Siya was thrilled to bits by the experience, although we did do a quick Slipfold back to the sports shop to grab some thicker coats, purely so we didn’t get our clothes soaked. The cold wasn’t an issue but the damp and wet felt miserable.
The area had become heavily active with monsters looking for breakfast but there wasn’t anything immediately threatening to us so we took off and started ascending into the sky.
For reasons unknown to me, a certain movement and noise caught my eyes and ears, and I observed a pack of long armed demogorgon looking monsters bounding down the street in hot pursuit of a large white wolf looking creature that had several bushy tails with a long thin whip-like one tipped off with a black barbed point.
The white wolf was yelping out like a scared puppy as it took a bad turn and ended up at a dead end surrounded by tall buildings. It turned around and howled in fear, yipping and yapping for family or friends that were presumably no longer around.
Brain: Don't fucking do it man. We're so bloody close!
Heart: Hello? Man's best friend? It’s whimpering for help and outnumbered for pete’s sake!
Brain: Yeah? What happened the last time we got distracted? Idiot..
Heart: Pssstch. Whatever. You're the one that has a conscience, not me. Enjoy sleeping at night. Heartless prick…
Brain: Ironic. If only..
Gut: Meh! You know wot? I reckon it’ll be alroite ta dive bomb the FUARK out of those monsters. The wolf will probably want to be your beastie-bestie and maybe it has a pack. Ooo, maybe if you save it, it will help protect your fam!
Brain: Oh Jesus fucking-
Balls: To be fair, Marri does love puppies, she might get so emotionally aroused she wants to screw your proverbial, or literal brains out if you bring one back, or, tell her about how you rescued one.
Brain:...
Gut:...
Heart:...
Balls:...
Gut: That seems extremely plausible.
Heart: I don't see why that scenario wouldn't play out EXACTLY as described.
Brain: Okay fuck it. I'm sold.
Balls: That’s the spirit lads.
Spirit: Oo did someone-
Brain: No! They did not. Go back to your room spirit..
Heart: Ugh. I’ll take him back..Come Spirit, let’s go do some of your colouring books..
Brain: Ahem. Alright. Game faces on boys..Let’s do this.
#Godu# Siya, hold on for a sec. I simply CANNOT, in good conscience, let that animal down there get hurt by those monsters! I must help it!
The wolf was backing into the wall crying out as a dozen of the alien looking monsters stalked forward.
#Siya# Hmm. It is a rather beautiful creature although the risk of it being a monster as well is extremely high. Hmm..However I see no reason not to get some exercise and also cull the less-visually appealing wildlife! Okay sure.
#Godu# Yes! See! I knew I could count on you to understand..okay I'm disconnecting-
I reached back and unclipped myself, instantly dropping like a lead stone.
Using bursts of glide, I placed Slipfold anchors and announced my arrival with an azure-black Majik explosion.
“Alright fuckers! The NSPCA would like to have a word with you cunts!”
…
..
.