Kyle finished his morning stretches and made his way over to the kitchen to make something to eat. A lot had changed over the last several months, and the thing he was most thankful for was the steady stream of food supplies offered by the refugees he saved. Even though the food could still be useful in Nierburg, they all seemed glad to offer him some excess. With his alternative being eating beetle meat, he wasn’t going to argue. He had gotten into a comfortable routine at this point – it took him about a week to escort a group of people to Nierburg, and after each trip he’d get back to his home base in Albaum to spend some time resting and training before starting the process over again.

C.H.A.D.D. flew over as he finished his cut oats and dried fruit, and they began the morning’s training. Kyle watched the projections of Garth first, carefully watching the man’s footwork and sharp movements.

[NOT LIKE THAT YOU IDIOT! YOU’RE MOVING TOO FAR. COMPACT MOVEMENTS MAYHEW!]

The voice was Garth’s, but the words were a blend from dozens of different conversations over their time traveling together.

Kyle couldn’t keep the smile off his face at the sound of the familiar instruction. Just over a month into this new routine, C.H.A.D.D. had begun to incorporate recorded feedback from his trainers into their sessions. The little drone appeared to be having great fun finding new and creative ways to tell Kyle that he was still a novice martial artist, and Kyle was genuinely thankful to have the coaching. Still though, a pit formed in Kyle’s stomach the more they continued to work together on it. The recording function was meant for medical histories, and that C.H.A.D.D. was able to use it in a context so far removed from the original purpose meant that its code was deteriorating.

His distraction caused him to miss some steps, and now it was Amalia’s cheerful voice playing through C.H.A.D.D.’s speakers.

[YOU HAVE TO FOCUS! YOU’RE LEANING TOO FAR, KEEP YOUR SHOULDERS OVER YOUR HIPS!]

The reminder was a good one, and Kyle did his best to put the concern behind him. He was going to head west tomorrow morning to find another group of refugees to escort, and he didn’t want to sacrifice his training. His efforts were beginning to bear fruit, and as he transitioned into his Escrima drills he pulled out a long hardwood stick he’d found. It wasn’t perfectly straight, and had several knots across its near-meter length. Still, it was sturdy and it made for great practice.

As the hours wore on, Kyle’s enhanced body easily allowed him to keep pace with the training. He could have pushed himself to focus on speed, but his biggest goal right now was the muscle memory. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. The mantra played through his mind as he continued to work through the motions, C.H.A.D.D. providing cheerful feedback. Finishing his routine, he looked at the late afternoon sky.

“C.H.A.D.D., can you pull up the travel records to Nierburg from epidemiology again?”

If there was one thing the Central Authority was good at, it was reporting.

They kept track of the movements of all citizens to more easily respond in the case of a pandemic, though the young Healer was hoping to use the information for other purposes. The drone obliged, projecting an extended list of names. Kyle knew what he’d find - he’d looked at this list over a dozen times. Still, he hoped there might be another political big wig in the city, ideally somebody from Central Health. If he could just get in the good graces of somebody with enough clout to challenge the Councilman, he would have an opportunity to get back in.

Any way he sliced it, DeRosa held all the influence in the city. As long as he was in charge, his chances of being welcomed into the city were nil. That also meant that C.H.A.D.D. wouldn’t be able to get the repairs it needed. Kyle didn’t know what he’d do the day the drone stopped functioning, and it was a thought that crossed his mind more and more as he saw it deviate farther from its programming. Pushing that fear down, Kyle turned his thoughts to the days ahead.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Other than the chaotic mana that still coursed through the atmosphere, the biggest threat to the unawakened refugees were the raiders. Kyle had encountered several groups over the last three months, but the ones he skirmished with the most often were simply called the Skulls. He hadn’t yet fought their leader, but the group was large and led by a Central Defense defector, apparently an absolute brute of a man who used gauntlets made of the skulls of two awakened bulls from before the fall. The last time he’d encountered the raider group they’d fled on sight, but Kyle knew that he was heading for a collision course with the man. He didn’t know when, but however it played out he wanted to be ready.

He grabbed a few pieces of beetle meat from his walk-in refrigerator and tossed them on the flat iron grill to cook. He kept the heat low, and settled into meditation to reflect on his progress since he’d committed to helping the refugees get to safety.

KYLE MAYHEW. ARTHRO-HUMAN CHIMERA (AWAKENED), HEALER. LEVEL 57

ADAPTIVE ANATOMY – 1/? – ENHANCED CARAPACE

VITALITY: 208

ENDURANCE: 208

STRENGTH: 65

DEXTERITY: 138

WILLPOWER: 158

INTELLIGENCE: 210

PERCEPTION: 210

FREE ATTRIBUTES: 0

Kyle continued to take a balanced approach with his Free Attribute distribution, with the exception of Strength which continued to lag behind. He’d considered focusing his investment to shore up this weakness, but decided against it. His growing Willpower improved the amount of mana he could put into his Skills, and his Intelligence helped him refine the control even farther. His Perception and Dexterity both got significant boosts from HASTE, and the investment in Vitality and Endurance had saved his life on multiple occasions.

Level 57… Kyle was still a little in awe of how quickly his levels had risen. It was rare to see awakened break through to Level 40, and virtually unheard of to be on the cusp of the Level 60 Skill. Yet for some reason the work Kyle did healing and protecting the refugees had allowed him to progress rapidly. Part of him had entertained the thought of crossing into D Grade like his grandfather, but he knew that was a dream for a distant future. Reflecting on his progress was a great comfort, and soon Kyle was packed and prepared for the next day’s trip.

The road was familiar to him by now, and they made great time as Kyle rushed down the roads with HASTE active at its minimum boost. His body was growing more accustomed to the strain of the skill, and REGENERATION reduced it even further. They arrived at what Kyle had roughly determined was the edge of Skull territory, large swathes of shrubs and trees cleared to give them easy vision of any refugees passing through. Kyle thought this was likely the handiwork of their awakened leader, and maybe even an awakened lieutenant. He let go of C.H.A.D.D. who floated up to eye level. [SAME ORDERS AS LAST TIME, DR. MAYHEW?]

“Yes please, C.H.A.D.D.”

Without another word the drone shot several meters into the air, scanning for any nearby groups of refugees. This was a process they’d typically repeat several times until they came across a group to escort through the hostile territory, but today C.H.A.D.D. came zipping down with an uncharacteristic urgency.

[DR. MAYHEW, THERE IS AN INJURED MAN LESS THAN HALF A KILOMETER AWAY, AND SIGNS OF A LARGE GROUP OF HUMANS APPROACHING HIS LOCATION. HE WILL DIE SOON WITHOUT TRIAGE.]

“Take me there.”

Kyle grabbed C.H.A.D.D. in his arms, following the directions provided by his drone companion with HASTE active. First priority was getting the patient to safety. They came upon the man laying prone on the ground, an expanding pool of blood growing from his stomach. Kyle rushed to the man’s side, releasing C.H.A.D.D. Only then did he realize that something was very, very wrong.

The man was on death’s door, but it was a face Kyle recognized. It was one of the men he’d fought months ago, the one who had threatened him and the first group of refugees he’d escorted to Nierburg. All Kyle could do was stand there, dumbstruck for a moment as he tried to puzzle together what was happening. He was interrupted by an urgent-sounding warning from C.H.A.D.D.

[DR. MAYHEW, THE - ] his companion’s words were cut off as a gun sounded, followed by the loud clank of a bullet striking metal. Kyle’s eyes widened in horror as more gunfire erupted, not focused on him, but on his drone.