Kyle exhaled slowly, eyes fixed on the tunnel beyond. It was time. C.H.A.D.D. confirmed what Kyle felt, that the Infernal was waiting down the tunnel before him. The smooth, hardened clay was warm beneath his feet, a testament to the power of the creature he was about to kill. Kyle had no illusions about what would happen if he got himself caught in the narrow tunnel. He would be burned and killed. If he pursued this path, the only way it would end was with either his death or the beetle’s.

He could still simply walk away, but that had never been an option for him. The desire had been eating at him the entire time they’d been in the cave, growing stronger with each passing day. He wanted to kill this thing, to show that he was superior. Even C.H.A.D.D. seemed to understand that, remaining uncharacteristically quiet as Kyle prepared.

Breathe in, breathe out. Those simple words played themselves over and over in his head, keeping him centered and focused. He directed his attention to the mana circulating through his body, and with effort he suppressed the pulses that would warn his prey of his location.

“C.H.A.D.D., are you picking anything up?”

[NO, DR. MAYHEW. MY SENSORS ARE NOT PICKING UP ANY INDICATIONS FROM YOU.]

“Thanks, C.H.A.D.D. This will be over shortly; I’ll be back for you soon.”

[BE CAREFUL, DR. MAYHEW.]

Nothing changed in C.H.A.D.D.’s robotic diction, but the drone’s words conveyed the concern clearly to Kyle. He thought about what would happen if he died here, leaving C.H.A.D.D. alone in an obscure cave in the middle of nowhere. He couldn’t decide if the drone was truly sapient or if he was just projecting his loneliness onto the little robot. Either way he didn’t want to leave his companion alone here. That just means there’s no room to screw it up.

Fixing his eyes ahead, he took a deep breath and began to walk down the tunnel. He saw the glowing circles facing him as he approached, and he felt the tension building as he approached. Each step brought him closer, and for a moment he dared to believe the plan would go as smoothly as he’d hoped. Then he heard the unmistakable crunch of brittle pottery breaking beneath his feet. There was a crystalized moment where time stood still, then Kyle saw mana rapidly drawing into the array on the Infernal’s back. He only had moments. Giving up entirely on stealth, Kyle activated HASTE and dove for the oversized beetle. His vision went white as five beams of searing heat erupted from the abdomen of the Infernal.

He screamed in agony as one of the blasts caught his right leg, but his desperate leap had worked – he was too close for the creature to use its heat-attuned mana effectively. With a snarl, Kyle grabbed onto the leg nearest him and pulled with all his might. While the Infernal was massive for beetle standards, it was far from large enough to pose an obstacle against Kyle’s Strength.

The brittle clay coating the cavern’s edge gave a loud crack as the insect smashed against it, but Kyle miscalculated exactly how hard he had swung the creature. While he maintained his grip on the leg, it had split at the joint, freeing the Infernal from his grip. It had turned to face him, and Kyle got a good look at its eyeless face, antennae bobbing madly. It lunged for him, mandibles aiming for his throat. Kyle’s instinct was to dodge to the side, but he resisted it.

If he ended up behind the beetle, he knew he’d be as good as dead in these narrow tunnels, especially now that his leg was injured. The next motion came naturally from the techniques he’d learned with Garth, and he punched down on the creature’s head while tossing his legs backwards, forcing the mandibles down into the ground. He had hoped that would create an opportunity to counterattack, but the spikes that jutted out from the abdomen swung for him, forcing Kyle to step back to avoid being skewered.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

He used the brief disengagement to focus energy into HEAL for his injured leg. He winced in pain, the recovery from these burns hurt. The Infernal raised its head before doing something Kyle hadn’t seen before. It raised its abdomen, performing what Kyle could only describe like a skunk doing a handstand. The protruding spikes dug into the ground next to its head, and Kyle once again found himself staring directly at the glowing array, charged and ready to fire.

There was only one course of action left to him. He dove once again towards the creature, this time directly at its head as the blast scorched the tunnel behind him. He felt his back burning, and knew if it wasn’t for all his changes he would have been cooked alive by the attack. The roar that escaped his mouth was equal parts rage and agony, and that only magnified as the Infernal bit into his upraised arms with its razor-sharp mandibles. In this, though, the creature had miscalculated.

Sure, the bites were painful, but they could do little more than leave shallow cuts on Kyle’s reinforced skin. Now, it was in Kyle’s realm. His mind was blank with anger as he engaged the creature, repeatedly smashing its head with his fists. After multiple brutal blows the creature fell to the ground, unmoving.

Kyle slumped against the opposite wall of the tunnel, breathing heavily. Pain wracked his body, and even though he had deactivated HASTE he was still in agony. REGENERATION was doing its work, and Kyle looked at the remains of his foe. The chitin on its head was cracked open, the antennae lying lifeless.

The abdomen still gave off a gentle shimmer of heat, but the arrays were no longer glowing. Still, Kyle could feel the familiar pulses emanating from the creature’s body, and moments later he saw streams of deep red energy flowing out of its body and concentrating into a single crimson gemstone. He had seen this before, and he reached out to touch it, gritting his teeth in anticipation of what was to come. The gemstone turned into dust at his touch, which burrowed into his body like a thousand needles. Even though he was prepared for it, he still let out a hoarse scream before darkness took him.

~~~

Garth looked out at the forest from his station at the wall. It had been over a month since they’d had a group of refugees make it to Nierburg, and he was growing restless. They didn’t always mention his name, but the description they had given of their rescuer and guide made it clear that it was Kyle escorting these groups to the city. He’d become sort of a folk hero to the people in the city.

The stories were a little outrageous, one little girl adamant that he killed a swarm of thirty beetles all by himself. Some claimed that he was bulletproof, while others said that the drone he had with him was the real leader, giving him messages from the Originators themselves. They all made him chuckle when he heard them, but as time passed people talked about him less and less.

It also wasn’t lost on Garth that the delivery his team made out west was right before the refugees stopped arriving. It didn’t take a genius to understand that the two were connected. What Garth wasn’t able to figure out was why.

The kid was doing work that was specifically listed on the Central Authority continuity plan. They were still a little way out from having the resources to allocate to expansion and reclamation, but it was work that still needed to get done. He wasn’t able to get any more out of his team or the higher-ups about the contents of the delivery they’d made which was frustrating. Despite their time together, they just didn’t seem to trust him. He’d spoken with Stephanie about it a couple times, and though he hated to admit it, her advice of taking a softer approach might be right.

The only information he had is what Joseph had told him, and he knew his squad didn’t just deliver simple supplies. Just what have you gotten yourself wrapped up in kid? Garth thought, looking out once again to the forest.