The situation feels like a reversal of the encounter of the Praetor for Mewtwo. He watches with blurred vision as Astra rushes to his side. He can feel the heat slowly leave his body. Each breaths he takes become harder than the precedent.
Astra is at his side now, fretting as to what to do surely. Mewtwo can barely extend his senses toward the cyborg. The little he can feel is panic and fear. Mewtwo closes his eyes. What can he do? What is there to do? He feels too weak to try and summon another life dew. None of the paths he knows have any ways to help him. Although... Is that really true? As his consciousness fades, he looks upon the many paths he can walk. Many seem to be closed, but there are branches that are still accessible.
As the last of his consciousness fades, he focuses on the path of purity, and rest.
----------------------------------------
Mewtwo lies on the ground, blood slowly dripping from his mouth and many wounds. Oh shit! Oh no. Oh nononono! I don't have magic bullshit to save someone! Fuck! His wounds are so severe too. His entire body is covered in burns and claw marks. He has five holes going through his chest that are still bleeding. Fuck is the blood going into his lungs? Oh this is so bad! What do I do? What can I do? Fuck!
Out! I need to get out! I need to get to that magical forest. Maybe that Princess lady can help us. Oh please be able to help us. Wait can I even move him? What will happen if I make his wounds worse? Fuck!! Don't I have any sort of recipes to make some healing items or something? No? Yes?
Before I can fret anymore, Mewtwo closes his eyes. NO! NO NO NO! I quickly open my recipes. There has to be something! anything! I go as quickly as I can through the materials I have. What can I do? This? No it looks more like sheet of fabric more than anything. That? Closer to a smoothie than a useful onguent. I have nothing. FUCK!
Wait! Here! an oran berry with six strings seems to give out rolls of bandages. I quickly make it, I can always gather more strings later, and this may be our last oran, but if it saves Mewtwo, better use it now than save it! I quickly craft it and take one out. I got three rolls out of the recipe. As I look it other, yes It is a roll of bluish bandages. The name is "Emergency first aid bandage". I slowly wrap the bandages all over Mewtwo's injuries, moving him as gently as I can. Doing so lets me realize my big friend is still alive. He still breathe, although slower than normal. I sigh in relief at that realization. Thank the Trio for making him so resilient.
After long minutes of painfully slow work. Mewtwo's pinkish white body and purple tail are now covered in multiple streaks of blue, some already staining with red. I breath out, still tense. Will this be enough? I hope so. I take a quick look at the strange little symbol beneath the name of the bandages. A serie of ten pixel hearts, with the first and second filled red, are displayed beneath. I hope they mean they are healing items. But seeing how most of Mewtwo's wounds have stopped bleeding, it seems they are, or maybe Mewtwo himself has higher rate of recovery? I really do not know.
I rest my head against a close by stalagmite and close my eyes for a minute. There are no sounds in the cave, beyond my rapid breaths and Mewtwo's slow ones. We have succeeded in our second raid. Barely. Again. I clench my jaws, letting my teeth grind against each others. There is barely any time. No. We took our time. If we had gone straight to the forest, we could have had help. But I decided to try and go spelunking instead. I wasted time, again! And now here we are. Mewtwo is incapacitated, we have gone through almost all our food and water reserves. And we still have some travel time still ahead of us.
We need get moving. I decide. It might be a risk, but it is riskier to stay here. I will have to carry Mewtwo out and risk aggravating his injuries, but we need to reach the forest as fast as possible.
I quickly assign my newly earned points, a third are dumped in strength. I now have 16% more muscle strength, for what that number is worth. The remaining points I assign first to body reflexes, getting that perk to almost 15%, then sensor suite. Still left with a decent chunk of experience point, I bring power efficiency to 50% as well as both coolant and generator efficiency to 30%. The remaining points I put into repair efficiency and armor resistance. With that done, I approach the still unconscious form of Mewtwo.
He seems somewhat peaceful right now. It is strange when compared to all the injuries marring his body. Now... How do I do this? I ponder. After a few minutes of indecision, I slowly bend down to Mewtwo and have him sit up. The big mon does not even stir. Good news or bad news? I am not sure. I keep going. I position myself so I can drape him on my back, and then, once I finally have his weight on me and have wrapped my arms around his tights, I push up. Wow. He feels... I though he would feel heavier. I take a step, and hear a slight scraping sound. I look back. His tail. Fuck...
Okay how do I do that? I lean forward and secure him as much as I can on my left arm. Then with my right, I try to reach for his tail. And fail... Come... On... Argh! Try as I might, my hand just slip on the large base of his tail. Damn it, I don't want to hurt him more than he is already. Alright... I swing left to right, trying to get his tail to come forward on either side of me. When I seems good enough, I send my foot to the side, trying to stop the tail from going back. The first time, I fail, the tail slip against my leg and return behind, beyond reach. The same happens the second and third time, until finally on the fourth try, I grab it inside my leg. YES!
Wait... I am now on one foot. Uhhh. I am about to fall. Shit, I can even feel Mewtwo slip! Aaah. Woooh. Hup! I jump on one foot, Mewtwo's weight dragging me backward as I try to remain up. Oh that's the wall coming up. Nope nope nope. I lean forward, the shift almost making me crash down, wow that's one hell of a sense of balance here. Finally, the weight settle. Mewtwo is no longer slipping. His tail is still held inside me right leg. Alright.
I reach out for his tail and grab it. Please let no one see us like this. This must look either ridiculous, or extremely weird. Urgh. Anyway, with his tail now in my grasp... How do I hold it? If I keep it like this, it will no longer be the end that will scrape down, but the middle section... Why do you have a tail as long as your body Mewtwo? Hum... Can I... I tuck the tail under my right arm and then slowly and awkwardly slide it forward. Soon, Most of it is in front of me. Good, With the bigger section still under my arm, I slung the rest behind me and try to catch the end again. It takes me a couple of tries, but I end up succeeding. I tuck the bulbous end of the tail above the part already stuck beneath my shoulder and secure it. I then grab Mewtwo's right tight with my right arm again. I now have Mewtwo's tail wrapping around my torse like a belt.
Alright, let's go. I take a step, everything hold... I take another, then another. And soon I am marching out of the cave chamber we were in. Oh shit the ceiling! I lower myself just in time, barely avoiding a collision between Mewtwo's head and the ceiling. I will need to be VERY careful here.
With that first hurdle passed, I continue forward. As I go, I slowly pick up speed and soon I am leisurely jogging through the cave.
I pass the space we stopped for smelting. I feel a bit annoyed leaving the torches behind, but I don't have time to stop and gather them. And maybe they could help others? Or pokemons will remove them... I hope none have been removed yet...
Once the stone transition from deepslate to grey stone, I know I have made half of the journey up. The echoes of my feet on the stone is surprisingly different than the one on the deepslate. So far, none of the torches seems to have moved.
I pass close to the aron colony, and notice they are gone. There are some leftover carapaces and chewed holes where there had once been a lot of tiny metallic beasts fighting each other, but no longer. I hope they did not move away because of us...
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Finally, I reach the first chamber we entered. The one where... I made a bit too much sound... The torch is still lighting our entrance tunnel, good. I slow down, and look up. Yup, the colony is still here. So maybe the aron colony moved out toward richer ore deposits? That might make sense. I silently make my way toward the entrance... as silently as steel feet on stone can be. The clinking sound of my hooked nails and metal soles seems like a deafening sound to my ears right now. Even my breath, still even after all the efforts I have just done, sounds louder than it should.
Yet all that perceived sound is not enough to stir the swarm of zubats from its nesting area. I sigh in relief and keep pushing forward.
Once I enter the tunnel that will lead us to our entrance point, I realize a small problem. I say small, but truly, it is quite a big one. We entered via a hole in the ground, I am about to meet about ten meters of cliff on all sides... How the fuck do I get out of here with Mewtwo?
I keep going as I mull other the oncoming problem. I pass our first excavations, as well as what I now realize must have been arons, lairons and aggrons dining spaces before they moved deeper into the cave.
After a few more minutes of jogging, I have reached the entrance. The sun shines upon the hole, letting me know it is day. And... yep... cliff... Fuck.
What can I do? Can I even get out on my own with Mewtwo?
I approach the wall, trying to figure anything out. I have indeed about ten meters to climb to get back to the surface. It may seem little, but I am transporting Mewtwo...
I put my one of my foot against the wall. My talons only scrape the stone, leaving little streaks but not much more. I wince at the sound. So that's a no... What else could I do? Jump? Ah! As if. Although... it is worth a try...
I do a small jump at first, barely getting up a meter in height, which is already far more than I expected. I almost fall on the reception. Alright, that was without really trying... And I almost fell. I am not sure if I could clear the height. So jumping out is relegated to plan B for now. What else...
Could I put Mewtwo in my inventory? Wait why did I not think of that earlier? I open my inventory screen and look to see if I can find Mewtwo as an item. And don't. Although I do get an achievement for trying.
Achievement got: No living allowed
(try to put a living creature in your inventory. As much as yes, it is a possibility, no, you cannot put living creatures inside your inventory. Unless they are in special inanimate objects.)
Reward: Nothing you fool!
Ahah, ahah. Thanks Trio.
Achievement got: If you're going to take it like this
(Be witnessed in a compromising position. You were ridiculous.)
Reward: Picture of the moment.
Are... Are they serious? At least that tells me they are always watching. And I will destroy that picture the moment I have the possibility. But back to the problem at hand. How do I get out of here?
I look up, at the clouds, at the distant floating island beyond the clouds. I forgot those were there. How do they even float? No! Stop getting distracted. Focus. Jumping is a no go, climbing will not be possible. What else do I have? I look around, trying to find anything to help me. Do I try to run along the wall? Too risky, a slip and it's back down violently. Too bad there is not a magical staircase, that would be fun.
...
Hold on. HOLD ON! My inventory is still open, I look it, at the dozens of materials in it. So much stone... What if... I quickly assemble a cobbled stone and take it out. What should have been at best a hand sized cube comes out as a cube one meter in size. I blink. Do not question the ratio. Do NOT question the ratio! WHAT THE FUCK IS THE RATIO????
As I groan and grumble about impossible ratios and mass conservation, I test to see if it will hold together. After copious amount of kicks, the cube remains a cube. That could work. I assemble more of the cubes and soon have a decent amount. Too bad I can only let them drop in front of me. Well... time to make a pyramid. I slowly lay down the cubes, first a line along the cliff wall, then I slowly climb up, layers of cubes by layers of cubes. Of course, gravity does not make my job easy. I will sometime let a cube drop, and it bounce and fall down. It forces me to craft another one, as I have no way to retrieve it without dropping Mewtwo. I am barely able to lay the cubes as it is. One actually land on my foot, and I am forced to roll it off. Another down the pile.
But finally, after maybe ten minutes, I am done.
Achievement got: Builder.
(build a structure (not a multiblock structure!) with materials at your disposition.)
Reward: Unlocking 'Builder suite' utility
A quick look at the achievement and then the rewards make me groan in annoyance.The builder suite is literally what I would have needed. Utility tools to make stairways walls and other structures parts from the materials I have, also finer placement of the blocks.
But I leave that gripe alone for now. I have reached the edge of the hole. Yes! I step up and behold the orchard. Trio, I did not realize how much I missed the surface until now. The sun slowly warming me, the sound a gentle breeze passing through the trees, the sound of insects, birds, cows... Cow? Wait what?
I turn toward the sound and yes. Leisurely grazing on the grass, is an honest to Trio cow. Not a miltank or a tauros. A cow. White and brown fight each other upon its fur, its horns look dulled but I do not want to verify that.
Hold on now though... What does that implies? Why would cows exist in a world where animals that can bend nature exist too? How are they not extinct? Or... I take a look through the WAYLA system and sure enough: Cow. Not a monster then... Or can the WAYLA system be fooled? I cannot test that now.
A flutter of wing makes me look away from the banality that is that cow to a more absurd sight of a chatot. The guardian of the orchard, with blue feathers covering a green and yellow torso, look at me from a tree. His music note shaped head is cocked to the side, as if surprised to see me.
"Cave dangerous! Cave dangerous!" He sings.
And I laugh.
"No mocking! Cave dangerous!" He screeches back.
"I know mister chatot. Thanks for the warning anyway." I answer back.
"Why go in? Why go in?" It chirps in answer.
"We needed the ressources down below. We got them, but we did not expect a raid to happen." Why am I answering that bird?
"Princess waits. Princess waits. Princess worries! Princess worries!" Oh that's good to know?
"Yeah, I can imagine that. Can you point me to the right way?"
"Follow! Follow!" And with that, the chatot takes flight.
So it was another pokemon linked to Aster Stradivii old team. I'll need to read more about the man and his pokemons.
I quickly follow the chatot to the edge of the orchard, at which point, he lands upon Mewtwo's head, and points toward a direction with his wing.
"Forward, forward!" He chirps.
The direction he points at has nothing on the horizon. Only a featureless plain. The grass is slightly more yellow this way. "Forward! Forward!" The chatot urges. And I oblige.
I surge forward, faster than in the cave, making the chatot scream in surprise. Mewtwo's weight has settled upon my shoulders, and with a set of reflexes I slowly realize I have, I manage to cushion my steps to avoid bouncing Mewtwo too much. What the numbers in the perks mean are really weird.
As the fields of grass passes us, I think about it. Our current theory is that we are not really upgrading ourselves. We are unlocking our true strength. The Trio also mentioned in their apology letter that whatever theory we might have might be close to the truth... And they are always watching as shown by the achievements I got earlier...
And now, as I have unlocked almost 10% or more on most perks, I feel far stronger than just a 10% upgrade should... But why? How could I know that? I just know it. Within me, I know that this strength, this speed, these reflexes, are more than just 10% more. A part of me know what I am capable of, and right now, I am unlocking the true potential of my body. Same goes for Mewtwo. His strength is only locked. And each candies and battles he wins, is another step toward his own full potential.
My musings are interrupted by the chatot screeching something and then flying off. Before I can question it, A massive orange beast with a beige belly lands in front of me. And from it hops a human.
"Finally! Do you know how long we have been waiting for you?" He snarl at me. I recognize him. Golden bangs, leather attire. It's the leader of the league group that approached me back at the village. Fuck... Not the time.