Kyle yawned as the shuttle approached the touchdown zone, in what used to be Japan. He stayed up far too late reviewing the footage of the sparring match, courtesy of C.H.A.D.D.’s scanners. Kyle had to admit, the drone was right about D Grades being difficult to scan through. With the three of them all fighting at once, it was difficult to make out some of the finer details at times. The combat situations showed Kyle something he’d already known, but not confronted. He didn’t have the trappings of a true melee fighter.
When he’d been practicing the basics of infighting with Garth and Frank, his attributes had been such that he was a threat. Now, against monsters like Duroc and Skippy, that was no longer the case. Putting aside the use of PARASITIC RESONANCE, he didn’t have the tools to offer a meaningful offense. Exoskeletal Strength helped a bit, though its utility truly shone when applying force over time rather than a quick exchange of blows.
It was painful to admit that when he fought in melee, typically he was punching down. Unawakened, weaker insects, or awakened at significantly lower levels just weren’t challenges on their own. Against D Grades like the Endless and the Eye, he always had to count on the Willpower attack offered by RESONANCE or its upgrade.
Practically, that meant that outside of life-or-death struggles, Kyle couldn’t realistically fight at his full potential. The way he and C.H.A.D.D. had theorized it, his best tactic would be to connect to an enemy with PARASITIC RESONANCE, stay out of range as effectively as possible, and disrupt any skills that his opponents try to use. It wouldn’t work well if he had to protect somebody, but to save his own hide it felt like a very reasonable plan.
Another issue that he ran into was the world tree seed. Kyle felt its presence, and could even connect with it via PARASITIC RESONANCE. Unfortunately, he couldn’t influence the energy within a single iota. Supplying mana to grow other seeds was beginning to become second nature, but this one was something else entirely. Even with C.H.A.D.D. actively studying and learning from it, they had made no progress at this point getting the seed to react to their wishes. Instead, every time Kyle connected to it, the seed seemed to draw mana from him through the connection. While he allowed it for now, the reality was that there was no easy-to-see application for the seed at this point.
That led Kyle to the biggest challenge ahead – how did he want to continue to refine his abilities? With only seven levels between him and his next D Grade skill, and twelve before his next upgrade, he would be confronted with some interesting opportunities. His previous goal was a clear one – overcome his range deficiency with RESONANCE. Now, Kyle considered more seriously which of his other skills he wanted to improve. He had no idea what sort of skill offerings he’d get at Level 35, though he was hoping for something more to round out his offensive toolkit. While he wouldn’t trade STORM SHELTER for anything, the MULTITOOL skill he passed up would be more than welcome now.
His attention was brought back to the present as he saw a bustle of activity, men and women carrying various pieces of equipment out of the freshly landed shuttle. He saw Skippy, Duroc, and Benjamin, and offered a wave as a he stood to greet them.
“You’re sure this is a good idea, Benjamin? It could be dangerous out here.”
“After seeing Duroc’s performance yesterday, I’m more confident than ever! I’ve been cooped up inside for too long, we’ve already mapped out an excursion to a site with some ruins. I’d invite you to join, but I think Chester has other plans.”
Kyle nodded, already aware of his assignment. Kyle wasn’t thrilled by the increased attention he and the drone had received, though at this point the best he could do is damage control. They’d be on the back of a small ATV, mapping out locations of any anomalies that he, or more accurately C.H.A.D.D., could pick up. Depending on what they found, they would either help secure the treasures or assist in dealing with local fauna.
Bidding their farewells, Kyle and C.H.A.D.D. had their first meaningful chance to gather their bearings. The once well-manicured forest of bamboo had become overgrown, with a nearly endless sea of green stalks stretching into the sky. A gentle and consistent breeze blew through the area, and the soft rattling of the bamboo stalks was hauntingly beautiful. Kyle was so wrapped up in listening to the sound and watching the swaying tops of the stalks that he didn’t notice the man standing to his side until he awkwardly coughed. Kyle jumped at the sound, then turned to him.
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“Do you have the transport ready to go already?”
“That’s actually the problem, sir.” The man’s voice was shaky, and he absently reached an arm up to rub the back of his neck.
“This foliage is too thick for our vehicles to drive through. And when we cut a path, it starts regrowing in seconds. We’ll need to shift our approach.”
“It grows that fast?”
The man nodded.
“It’s something else to watch. Gonna be a real pain to try and get clear. Don’t think Chester will let us burn it down, neither.”
That was something for which Kyle was thankful. He’d never seen anything like this forest before, and he didn’t want to see it get burned down.
“I can still make my way through. I’ll go on with C.H.A.D.D. and we’ll tag what we can, then come back to the camp.”
“Sir, the foreman wanted you to have at least a few expedition members along with you to assist –“
Kyle cut him off. “Plans need to be adaptable. This will be easy enough for us to handle. We should be back soon, or in touch about anything dangerous we find.”
Not giving the man any further opportunity to object, Kyle turned and started working his way through the bamboo forest. Once he was clear of the camp, he let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. The reality was that working with the mining expedition had become stressful. Benjamin, Chester, they all had their own motivations, and he and C.H.A.D.D. were pawns for both. Worse still, Kyle knew he’d lose to both when it came to political scheming. This was much more up his alley – enjoying the cool breeze as he explored the unknown.
Before he got too far, Kyle wanted to see if the claims about the bamboo were true. Fortunately, that was an endeavor that didn’t take long. He could see some of the smaller stalks growing at a visible rate, and out of curiosity reached out to touch one. The stalk was surprisingly hard, and as he looked at the other stalks around, he had a thought.
“C.H.A.D.D., what can your scans tell you about the bamboo?”
[IT IS SIMILAR TO THE TREES AT THE FIRST RAINFOREST, DR. MAYHEW. NOT ONLY IS IT GROWING RAPIDLY, IT IS HEAVILY INFUSED WITH MANA, AND THE INTERIOR STRUCTURE OF THE STALKS IS BEING WORN AWAY AT A RAPID PACE.]
“If that’s the case, I’m guessing that new shoots are replacing the old ones that die?”
[THAT IS A STRONG PROBABILITY, DR. MAYHEW. THOUGH I CANNOT CONFIRM WITH ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY.]
“Your little plant encyclopedia doesn’t have an easy answer for you?”
[IT ALMOST CERTAINLY DOES, DR. MAYHEW. UNFORTUNATELY IT WILL BE QUITE SOME TIME BEFORE I’VE APPROPRIATELY SORTED AND ARCHIVED THE DATA.]
“You’ve got a heck of a project ahead of you, C.H.A.D.D. Regardless, I don’t think I’ll need the seed to tell me that this bamboo has potential as a crafting material.”
While the powerful chitin from the Wall was still serving as great armor, between the damage from Valentine and the other challenging encounters, it was getting worse for the wear. He’d known it would need to be replaced at some point, and a nearly endlessly growing plant resource could be a great long-term solution. Even if the defensive quality was lower, he’d more than make up for it with his outrageous Endurance attribute combined with Enhanced Carapace.
As Kyle and C.H.A.D.D. made their way through the forest, a gradual sense of unease built in Kyle’s gut. Finally, he placed it. There’s nothing here. The duo had tagged seven locations where interesting mana readings were getting picked up, and yet they hadn’t encountered a single beast. On one hand, it made the exploration run much more smoothly. On the other, it was eerie. If the readings were correct, this was one of the most mana-rich zones on the planet. It was likely the nest of one of the D Grade creatures. And yet nothing at all was here.
Despite the unease, Kyle made it back to camp without incident. Crews were already being formed, preparing extraction teams for each of the locations Kyle flagged. Other than the inability to move heavier equipment into the forest, things were progressing smoothly. Not shaking the feeling, he decided to use his nav bracelet call Skippy to check on Benjamin’s team.
“How has the exploration of the ruins been?”
Moments later, Skippy responded.
“Good. Benjamin keeps finding boring things to look at. Duroc wants to stop for lunch. I’m just bored.”
“No resistance you’ve encountered?”
“None at all. Benjamin wants to know more about your architecture though. Says that this looks pretty unique.”
That tracks, Kyle thought. Japanese architecture was always something else, even before the awakening.
His nav bracelet buzzed, and Benjamin’s voice came through.
“This is incredible, Kyle. I didn’t expect to find such an interesting blend of nature and manmade materials.”
“Yeah, the architecture here has always been amazing.”
“I’m more impressed with all the silk. What purpose did it serve? Is it for insulation?”
“You’ll need to be a little more specific. Did you find clothing? A tapestry?”
“No, I’m talking about the silk that’s covering the buildings. The whole area is coated.”
Kyle’s body went cold.
“You need to get out of there, now! Run!”
If they heard him, he couldn’t tell. The nav bracelet was silent.