Chapter 37 Life

They didn’t have long until nightfall, Kate intent to at least test her new abilities once or twice before the last bits of sunlight faded. She knew that monsters could attack at any time but so far it seemed most of the creatures they had seen avoided daylight. Not the undead, she remembered, two blue eyed goblins running after their truck just a few hours prior.

She looked down at her hammer, felt its weight. Her clothes were ripped in places. Dried blood, most of it not hers. Her gear was still in a much better shape than after some of the previous fights she’d had. She grinned. Fights I’ve had. Me.

Fucking ridiculous, all this. Exciting for Grey, sure. I had enough excitement before all this. She looked at the dried blood on her weapon. A medieval tool made for war. Kate felt its weight once more and threw it up in a spin, catching it as if it was a children’s toy.

“That’s pretty hot,” Allison said.

Kate glanced her way, seeing the woman lean against the door frame of the armory. Blue eyes took her in, the blonde bun clean now. “Thanks. You look good yourself..”

Allison waved her off. “I was not in a presentable state when we first met.”

“I suppose not,” Kate said with a smile. “Out there for cosplay?”

“For a walk in the sun, always looking for spots. Getting the perfect lighting isn’t easy,” Allison said.

“Not something I’ve ever thought about, but I suppose you’re right,” Kate said, checking through her skills again.

“Never had to do a shooting yourself? For the firefighter magazine or something?” Allison said with a smile.

Kate smiled. “The guys are hot enough for that. I won’t lie and say I haven’t been asked before.”

“They really are,” Allison said. “Were they in…”

“Yeah, let’s not…” Kate said, shaking her head slightly.

“I’m sure they’re fine.” Allison said with a slight smile.

Kate decided not to say anything to that. It wouldn’t come out the way she intended.

“Whilst I have you here, I wanted to take your measurements,” Allison said.

Kate raised a brow at that.

“What? Did you think I’d just sit around for you powerful lasses to protect me?” Allison asked. “Do you have any clue how complex some of the costumes I made were? Throwing together a well fitting piece of Wyvern armor is the easiest thing in the world. You do have to get me something to power the Strohringer though. And more materials.”

“A generator, and fuel. Make a list and give it to Jon,” Kate said.

“Oh valiant knight thou art,” she said when her eyes lit up. “Oh! There is this really cute sewing shop in Kahrsdorf. Nadelwald. Gods, I hope Nadia is alive. Hmm, she probably isn’t.” She shook her head and looked back to Kate. “Just get me everything that’s there. I doubt she will mind.”

“If we go there, sure,” Kate said, pushing the send button on her radio. “I’m up for testing.”

The others joined her outside less than a minute later, all of them regularly looking up to check for flying creatures. Smoke rose from near the gates, but Ethan was right, there were other plumes visible farther away, even from the yard.

Kate went to grab one of the old beds from the barracks. They were nowhere near comfortable enough to sleep on and they would need more space. For Allison to work, for storage, or other people. And they needed wood to burn in the furnace. Quite a lot of birds with one single hammer. She grabbed the large wooden frame and pulled, puffing slightly at the weight. Solid wood. Could kill a man with that thing.

She angled it upwards and pulled it out of the long room. There were ten in total. “Mind if I make some firewood?” she asked as she dragged the thing over the cobblestone, the sound of wood hitting stone dull and heavy.

The others just watched on, Grey with one hand on the handle of his blade. She looked at him for a moment. His gaze wasn’t as frantic as when they had met, instead focused. His hands didn’t shake, his posture relaxed and calm. The gray jacket looked good on him, gave him some mass. Not quite the same guy that I met in the forest. She grinned to herself and set down the bed.

“Melusine, can you check me before I use Blood Frenzy? Wait… Grey, get me some rope,” she said.

“Rope?” he asked.

“And ground coffee,” Jon said.

“You got it,” Kate said as Melusine approached and checked on her, a slight glow coming from her hands occasionally. She looked around and settled on the drain connected to the barracks. With the rope Grey provided, she bound her right leg onto the metal before handing all of her hunting knives to the man. Just in case.

“Ready?” she asked the others, hammer in hand.

Grey gave her a quick nod.

“We’re ready,” Melusine said, a smile on her face.

Alright, here we go, Kate thought and activated Blood Frenzy.

She could feel her chest heat up. It felt like her eyes sharpened. Her hammer felt good in her hands. She crouched slightly. They were out in the open, easily seen.

She heard birds fly, heard the breathing of her allies, she heard the smoldering of flames just outside the gates. Fast steps, a critter. No danger to her. She looked up, scanned the skies but found nothing. There were no enemies here. She was safe. As were the others. It was difficult to focus on them, to listen to what they said. Irrelevant. They were safe.

A task. There had been a task. An idea. She took a step forward, feeling the rope around her leg keeping her back. Did she have to pull? No. That had not been what she had wanted to do. Firewood. The bed. In her focused state she had nearly forgotten. The task felt difficult to grasp at first but now became freeing, as if the very blood in her veins boiled. A solid wood frame. It would not stand. Not against her.

She raised her hammer and sacrificed as much of her health as she could to increase the power of her strike. It felt intuitive. Easy. As if she was made for it. The rush was like nothing she had felt before. A first kiss. The heat of fire. The scream of a child. Her blood sang, her heart beating. She felt alive. Her hammer came down, striking one of the side beams of the bed, the wood splitting with a dull sound before the stone below shook from the power of her impact.

A part of her knew that the rush had come and gone but she remained focused on the task at hand. Kate tried to raise her leg but was once again reminded of the rope. She didn’t let go of the hammer but grabbed the rope with one hand. Then she pulled. A creaking resounded from the drain pipe before something snapped. She didn’t care what, but her leg was free. Pushing her boot against the wood, she pulled on the hammer, its head stuck inside the splintered beam. It came free after a few seconds.

She considered the broken frame and started to walk around it. Her next strike would break the other side. A voice resounded. A smell. Something was wrong. Her allies were concerned, she could tell. Were there enemies? She could not hear or see anything that would suggest such.

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“Kate, stop the spell,” the voice said.

The spell? Oh.

Yes. I see.

Her ears popped, her vision returning to something wider, less focused. She saw the concerned looks of the others, saw the mangled wooden beam and the splinters below. She turned to look at the snapped drain pipe. The rope had won out. “Need a better pipe,” she said with a smile.

“How did it feel?” Melusine asked. Her eyes were entirely focused on Kate, the smile on her face wide.

“You look a little crazy there,” Kate said.

“Well yes. What you just did was crazy,” Melusine said. “Absolutely incredible,” she added and walked over before touching Kate with a slightly glowing hand.

“I don’t know if I should be flattered or scared. It felt…” she started but snapped her mouth shut. “Good,” she said after a few more seconds. Amazing.

“We saw the look on your face, honey, you’re not fooling anyone,” Melusine said. “I can tell that you lost something from that, though it’s difficult to discern. Any idea how much you used up yourself?”

Kate shook her head. She focused on the question and tried to feel it out. “I could tell… while the spell was active. I could tell that there was plenty left. And I used as much as I could. It felt right, as if I knew what was appropriate. Less than ten percent, I’d say. Maybe less than five. I can feel it kind of. A little drained, so to say.”

Allison chuckled from the side.

“We could test more but it might become dangerous. Neither do we know how long it takes you to regenerate the lost… health. I should keep my magic ready to heal actual injuries as well,” Melusine said.

“Speaking of which, how is Logan?” Kate asked.

“The actual burns are healed. A miracle on its own. He still needs to rest… healing magic isn’t easy on the body, and while I feel my magic contributes to a large part to the process, much of the work is done by the person I’m healing. Much like normal tissue regeneration for example, just amplified and guided. Only theories for now, but I can gauge a lot with my magic,” Melusine said.

“We should move on, the sun is setting soon,” Jon said.

“Right,” Kate said and used her Vengeful Charge in a random direction. She chose the full distance and rushed forward by seven meters. According to the skill, she didn’t have measuring tape with her after all. The speed at which she advanced hadn’t changed since she got the initial non-evolved skill, which meant for seven meters, the travel duration took more than a second. Probably less than two, but the strange thing was mainly that she was aware of the travel time. Like jumping from the one meter board at the pool versus the ten meter one.

The cost had lowered from twenty to ten percent of her stamina which was certainly noticeable, even after one use.

Testing Reaper Jump would be a little more difficult. She looked to the barracks, ran towards them, and activated the skill. She felt a pulse go through her, leg muscles tensing before she jumped up, all the way to the roof of the one story structure. A strange feeling had come and gone during the jump but it was difficult to tell what exactly. Just the fact that she could jump three meters high was a rush on its own, distorting what likely represented the added resistance. Guess we could figure out a way to test this but knowing I have a physical resistance during the jump should really not change how I approach fights. Not without actual experience.

“It’s a little cheaper now,” Kate said from atop the barracks.

“You don’t have to climb the stairs to the walls anymore,” Jon said.

“Yeah, but that also means monsters might have similar abilities,” Kate answered.

“We already have Wyverns around,” Jon said. “The walls are a measure of defense. We’ll have to add more, no matter what kind of creatures are out there.”

“What if it just adds a physical resistance to prevent injuries from falling,” Grey suggested.

Kate sat down on the edge of the roof, dangling her legs down. “That’s a good point. Should I try?”

“And sprain your ankles? No. In a few days maybe, if we have no injuries left,” Melusine said. “It takes about four hours for me to get back my mana.”

“Fine by me,” Kate said. She held onto the edge of the roof and lowered herself down with one hand, then she let herself drop. Effortless, she thought, a slight smile coming to her face. She had done similar exercises before and while she could lift her own body with reasonable strain, it had never been quite so easy. Let alone with one arm. “I feel like a monkey.”

Her eyes widened a little when she realized she had said that out loud.

Grey nodded as if he understood. Melusine smiled. “Monkeys are very strong,” she said as a matter of fact.

“I should invest into Strength as well,” Jon murmured to himself, too quiet for anyone but Kate to hear.

“Weirdo,” Allison said, quiet but the look on her face suggested she knew Kate could hear her.

“I don’t think testing Blood Rupture right now is a good idea. I know the range and won’t use it near anybody else,” Kate said, returning her attention to her skills. “Blood for the Living is self explanatory and Fury of the Unarmored… well, I suppose I’ll find out how that looks once I get injured.”

“If you knew how it worked, you could incorporate it into your fighting,” Grey suggested.

“Yes, but I’m not going to have you cut me here just to test it. If it happens against monsters, it happens. I’d rather be cautious, not that that’s much of an option with my berserking abilities,” she said. She couldn’t deny that a part of her wanted to find out what exactly her other skills did. Blood Rupture especially. But the time would come.

The last skill that had changed was Terrifying Presence, but if anything, Kate wanted a shower, not to cover herself in more blood. “I think I’ll go take a shower.” She noticed Grey’s eyes widening before he opened and closed his mouth. “What is it?”

“I… no… go take your shower,” he said and smiled.

Sad puppy eyes. She raised her brow. “What is it, Grey? If you want something, say it.”

“I… well,” he said and scratched the back of his neck.

Kate closed her eyes. She was tired from all the fighting and really not in the mood to help him out with his behaviors. She heard his heartbeat quicken, and she heard the steps of Allison coming closer. Leisurely, calm, laid back. Her confidence radiated even in the way she walked.

Kate opened her eyes to see Allison clutch Grey’s shoulder before she looked at him. Her face was very close to his, the man’s heartbeat increasing again. She hoped Melusine had some magic left to treat his incoming cardiac arrest.

“Boy. What she’s saying is that you should value your own wishes. Because if you don’t, you’re going to resent yourself more and more, until your self worth is so fucking pitiful, you might as well not exist. So say what you want, if only to yourself,” she said, touching his cheek before she turned his face towards hers. “Not so pale anymore, are we,” Allison said and giggled, letting him go.

Kate raised her brow. Now that sounds like someone speaking from experience.

“I g… g… got a new Class,” he said.

“Your support Class at level ten?” Jon asked.

The boy nodded. He looked down.

“That’s great. Congratulations. What did you choose, and what options did you get?” Jon asked. “Wait, let’s do this inside, I want to write it all down.”

This time, Grey’s smile looked genuine. He followed an excited Jon back inside, Eloise and Celeste going after them.

Melusine, Kate, and Allison were left outside, their gazes following the group.

“I want him so bad right now,” Allison said.

“You wish,” Melusine said. “I sometimes thought it would be nice for him to have a son as well.”

“To pass on his hereditary titles?” Allison asked.

Melusine looked over and raised her brows. “Yes. I’m the Queen of England.”

“I just want a shower. I guess it’s a good thing you two can think about sex and children. Should’ve seen how Grey cut through those undead,” Kate said as she started towards the house.

“Don’t give me ideas. He’s way too young,” Allison said.

“You took the time to give him advice,” Kate said.

Allison smiled, sticking out her tongue. “Much easier to handle a few people compared to an entire community.”

“Right. I’ll clean up before I have to kill monsters again. Let me know how your romantic dreams go, Princess,” Kate said in a dry tone.

“Don’t act like you don’t love it, I saw the smile when you destroyed that bed. I’ll get me some of that magic too, can’t say I’m not at least a little envious,” Allison said.

“You can get a Class even without fighting,” Melusine said.

“Yeah, if it weren’t for the collapsing infrastructure and death of likely millions, this would be a great win for equality,” Allison said.

I just like my hammer.

Kate once more opened her eyes wide but sighed when she realized she hadn’t said that out loud. Can’t give her even more ammunition against me, she thought but found herself smiling. She never had siblings, the other firefighters pretty much her family. She sobered up a little, a part of her terrified that she started to feel the same about the people here, after such a short time.

She went up the stairs, the others too focused on Grey’s new Class to notice her walk past. She stepped into the shower, a fresh set of clothes waiting for her as she closed her eyes in the rather dark bathroom. At least the water still ran, even if it was cold.

Fuck it. I have magic now, and a bunch of people who can fight, heal, craft, cook, and plan. A smile tugged on her lips. Maybe it was alright to open up at least a little. And when the monsters came, she would be there to face them.