Chapter 48
Ryker
Through the pain and discomfort, I felt a kernel of excitement begin to grow. This sense of progress, of moving forward, was addictive to me. I had been stagnant for so long back on Earth, and here on the ship of my planet's conquerors, I found the thing I had been missing in my life,a purpose, meaning. I will have to thank Silvar later for the vital energy. He must have pushed me over the edge to gain my level. Now I just need to figure out how to allocate this point.
I knew what I needed to do but wasn't sure if I had the strength to do it. Desperate times require desperate measures. I channeled my inner goldfish and did my damndest to forget that I had just gotten my junk trampled by Ruby and remember how wonderful she has been so far. I closed my eyes and thought, “Ruby, I am sorry for being impatient with you.” In response to my lackluster apology, I was greeted with a one-fingered wave, and I groaned. “Ruby, you are so wonderful to me, and I really don't deserve you… I messed up.” The floating hand retracted its finger and gave me the go-on gesture, and I said, “You are so beautiful and smart. I am stupid and ugly. Please forgive me and help me out with this level-up business… Please.”
The hand gave me a thumbs up, and the rest of Ruby’s body appeared, flying through the air to gently land atop me, she promptly started smothering me with hugs and kisses. “Ryker, you big dummy, you know I can't stay mad at you. Of course, I will help you… like you said, I am sooooooooooooo smart. I would be happy to debase myself and help a lowly human like you out in your time of need.”
It took almost all my willpower, but I managed not to roll my eyes and flashed Ruby a bloody smile, saying, “Thank you, Ruby. So what do I need to do to slot this thing in? Is there some kind of ritual, motto, hand sign, or what?”
Ruby peeled herself off me and said, “Nothing that involved. All you need to do is focus on the stat you want to increase and mentally say, 'Level up ____.' The growth system is designed to be simplistic. Do you know which stat you want to level first?”
I gave Ruby a little nod and thought, “Well, I had considered leaning into my advantage and leveling up vitality, but I think that will continue to grow naturally as I get tortured… I mean trained. I also considered shoring up my weaknesses like intelligence or endurance, but when I really considered what was holding me back, I kept coming back to my mana. I need more mana. If I can improve that, I feel like everything else will follow suit.”
She gave me a big smile and said, “Great! I was thinking along those lines. So go ahead and place your point. I have an idea of what's going to happen, but do remember this has never been done before.” Ruby crossed her fingers and bit her bottom lip.
I hesitated after Ruby reminded me that I was a big guinea pig. My trepidation was short-lived, though, and my sense of adventure took center stage as I thought the words. “Level up Mana!” A few seconds passed without anything, and I was preparing to ask Ruby a question when, all of a sudden, I felt a sensation like my heart was being filled to the brim with energy. I didn't feel any pain, but the strangeness was unlike anything I had experienced to date. The power welling up there was captivating, and I found myself closing my eyes and reaching to that power. To my new senses, I could feel the mana that I was growing more accustomed to, but in that maelstrom of power, I found a deluge of vital energy churning. I felt my heart start beating faster and harder as the power soaked into it, and just as fast as the vital energy had come, it had been spent, and my heart was forever changed.
As I marveled at the feeling of a newly minted organ, I was caught off guard when I felt a flood of mana rush out of my heart and into my body. It sped through my veins with every pump of my heart and saturated my entire being. My healing accelerated, and my entire body began tingling and itching as it was rebuilt before my eyes. I looked up at my mana bar and found it maxed out! I guess when I improved my mana stat, I got a reset on my pool.
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I quickly thought the words. “Ruby what happened I feel different.”
Ruby held up her index finger, gesturing for me to wait, then after a few moments answered. “It appears that when you used your free stat on mana it identified your mana source as being your heart since that is where Silvar anchored himself. Keep in mind this is just a guess since my understanding is limited, but i think increasing your mana stat will modify your heart to be a better vessel for your mana and in turn improve its function moving forward. If I am right this could really improve your endurance along with your mana.”
I nodded and thanked my lucky stars that I didn't explode or something else unsavory and reveled in the feeling of my bones mending and my muscles melding back together. In a matter of minutes, I was fully restored and had 30% of my mana left to play with. By this time, Ruby had released me from her suit's hold. I rolled to my feet and stretched. While enjoying the feeling of perfect health again, I spotted a flash of red skin and made my way over to greet Amy.
Upon arrival, I found Amy practicing with the pair of intimidating gauntlets from earlier. She was standing in front of a 6-armed humanoid robot. The device would sluggishly reach out to hit her, and she responded with a block or jab. As I watched, the speed and frequency of the blows increased until the two were moving faster than I would have ever believed possible, until one fist made it past her guard, and she let out a muffled “OOF.” The robot stopped its onslaught and reset to a starting position.
I clapped my hands loudly as I closed the remaining distance and saw Amy turn and stop cold in her tracks. She looked as though she was trying to find the words and finally stammered out, “Ryker, what in the hell, dude?!?”
I gave Amy a cheerful smile and said, “What? You look like you just saw someone come back from the dead.”
She vigorously nodded her head and said, “Uhhhh, yes. That is exactly what I am looking at. You are seriously unfair to deal with.”
I decided to give her a break and told her, “Nah, I am just a glorified punching bag. It will be people like you that have an evolution under their belts that really become the tip of the spear.”
Her disbelief melted away, and her features softened as she smiled and said, “Maybe, maybe not, but I do know we both have to keep pushing ourselves if we want a chance in hell of making a difference.”
I nodded my head and rubbed my chin before saying, “No arguments there; this training is rough, and I'm starving. We are just about due for some chow. Let's go meet up with the guys.”
As soon as we turned and made our way towards the place they were sparring, the notification dinged in the corner of my vision, and I read the text.
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*NOTIFICATION*
1500-1530 Nutritional intake
Proceed to the courtyard for your meal.
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I altered my trajectory slightly and arrived at the courtyard with Amy in tow. A minute later, I was greeted by the two shocked faces of Luke and Jeremiah as I explained again how I was fine, and healing is cool. Red chose that moment to materialize in our midst and bowed deeply to us as she gestured behind herself at the pedestals rising from the ground. The familiar sight of the plastic big gulps filled with a chunky mix of questionable origin appeared, and without any hesitation, we approached then took up our drinks.
I wearily looked from my cup to Amy, and then to Red and said, “Red, please tell me you have been making those improvements on this like you said you would.”
Red toed the ground innocently, then responded, “Well, I tried really hard to make the ingredients taste better but don't know if I was successful or not.”
I nodded to Red, Amy, and the guys and pinched my nose while I turned up the cup. I wasn't prepared for what came next. I had already tasted the heavenly brew that morning, the diabolical slurry at lunch, but when this alchemical concoction touched my tongue, I was struck speechless. I swallowed the mouthful and slowly turned to Red and whispered, “It tastes like chicken.”