Keith sat on the floor, beside him were a rifle and a lot of ammo set. He already cleared the gun and was now waiting for Roey to explain his encounter with ‘ Outer creatures ’.
He always suspected that something must have happened during the war to make Roey this hardcore on his children. He just thought the experience would be just a normal occurrence of war. Bloodbath. Gun blast. Bomb. All sorts of things.
But after hearing strange words from him, Keith noticed that his assumption of ‘ the war ’ might be wrong. He took out the revolver and emptied the bullet before replacing it with the new one. He also added an oil to run smoothly.
The shot he fired earlier felt stiff. It didn't move like he thought. Surely time had made the gun rusty as well as it did to his skill. He can perfectly dismantle the gun and reassemble it within a minute. That was an old-time record.
They were staying inside the hunter house in the forest behind Roey’s blacksmith. Roey trained him in this forest in the art of guns, close combat and survival. They usually used this place for rest and supply for obvious reasons.
Keith sighed looking around inside. The house was built using the big tree as a base. That is why the two-story building had a small room. He leaned on the wall and looked at Roey who was warping bondage to his wound. He also applied alcohol and tried to kill any bacteria he got from the wound.
I would be screaming.
Keith shook his head. “ So why the wounds? I don’t think you would get rusty. Those things are not that fast. ” He said.
“ Age. ” Roey said with a cough. “ It comes to you. ”
Keith nodded. “ I guess you can’t train that. So tell me about your ‘ War ’.”
Roey wore his shirt and got up. He picked up a flask and drank a handful of alcohol, trying to ease up the pain. He let out a long sigh and looked up at the dry ceiling.
“ Our mission is not concerned with facing another empire. It's a classified mission but who cares. The world is done. ” Roey split on the floor and cleared his throat.
“ The ice walls are melting. ”
“ I know. We all know about that. ” Keith said, bringing the revolver near his chest.
“ What you don't know is the things that come from the ice. Those damn monsters. ” Roey clenched his mouth in anger.
Keith felt fear in his father for the first time. Even if he put on an angry facade, he knew the fear because it was the most familiar feeling to Keith.
“ Those white guys. ” Keith said, looking through the wall gap.
“ No. They are just a lackey. The real came from the water. Tall, big. Enough to swallow the battleship in one bite. The skin is so hard that even the most powerful weapon can’t pierce them. ” Roey said in a daze as if he was seeing the horror right in front of him.
He could hear the screaming of his friends. He always heard but this time the screaming echoed more in his head. His hands trembled in dread.
Keith stayed silently.
“ Then the creature fled. We don’t know why but it fled. Only five of us survived in that massacre. In a thousand people, two massive warships, only five. ” Roey smiled and said in a bitter tone. “ I guess, we never stood a chance. ”
“ Then, it happened. Technology shut down. Even the laser weapon died. The radio turned off. Electricity disappeared. ” Roey said.
Keith frowned. He looked up at the faint light bulb and pointed at that. “ Then what is this? ”
“ Man-made electricity. I created it using my hands. ” Roey answered. “ Our radio waves were all gone when the creature appeared as well. I don't know the reason. Even I am in shock about this light bulb and guns. There must be some rules to it. Like the blue screen. ”
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Keith nodded. “ It says Aura, right? We both have a rank of one. It must be some kind of energy in our body. ”
He looked at his hands and concentrated his mind.
Aura. Aura. It must be some kind of energy. Rank one means we can increase our rank.
Keith felt sweat feeling inside his tongue. It was a refreshing feeling. Like eating a really nice ice cream after a hot day. You could die in heatstroke but the risk was worth it.
So he continued to sink in the feeling. The sweetness hardened for a moment. Keith caught it in his hand and opened his eyes to take a look. There was a gray aura surrounding his hands. He played it.
Morphing it into a ball. Keith smiled. It suddenly exploded on his face. He coughed. The explosion was not large. It was the extent of a small firework.
“ So this is an aura. ” He said.
[ Aura tree unlocked.]
Keith stared at it for a moment. He thought about expanding the Aura tree. A series of information was shown.
[ Reinforcement - 20]
[ Sense - 50]
[ Creation - 0]
[ Transformation- None]
[ Special - None.]
Keith looked through. Reinforcement showed the ability to strengthen your limbs with Aura. The sense was self-explanatory. Creation showed the thing you made from Aura. The transformation was changing the substance of your Aura into something.
It didn't show anything about Special. No explanation.
He looked at Roey who was doing the same except his aura was green. “ Check your aura tree. ”
Roey knitted his eyebrows and focused his Aura. It condensed into a small threat, floating in the air. Roey grabbed the threat and tried to break it into pieces. His muscles enlarged but there was no change in the string.
“ It works like steel but with the flexibility of normal strings. ” He said. “ I can create strings. What about you? ”
“ Nothing. '' Keith replied. “Looks like each person has their ability. Or you are a special case. ”
Roey nodded. “ What do you plan to do? ”
“ I am leaving the town and heading to North City. ” He said, leaning on the wall. “ Mother and sister lived there. I am sure they are fine. ”
Roey’s face darkened. North City is located near the beach. The sea from which those giant monsters can come. He was realistic so he understood the chance of their survival was low.
He opened his mouth but was cut off by Keith’s remark.
“ I am going to find my family. They're alive and well. Trapping in a building. I am sure those monsters won’t get inside the large building. The police had a gun. Yeah. ” He paused. “Besides, we got a gang member living next door. He has a crush on my sister so he will protect her. Like any man would do. ”
Keith rubbed his arms to gather some heat. He did it with an Aura covering his body. Subconsciously, his control over Aura got improved.
He nodded and took out five red crystals. He concentrates Aura into his hands and crushes all five of them. Red pieces dissolved into mist and were absorbed by his Aura. He felt strength.
He thought of something and took out a bullet from the revolver. He injected Aura into the bullet. It was covered in grey. He nodded and watched the bullet for hours.
After an hour, the grey disappeared. Keith noted.
So reinforcement works like this as well. What about sense?
He grabbed his head and lay on the floor. A bullet pressed into the base of his spine. He picked it up and threw it outside.
“ I will come with you. ” Roey said.
Keith shook his head. “ Our interaction is finished. I don’t want to see you anymore. Let’s part away. ”
“ You think you can stay alive alone in the chaos. ”
“ No, but I sure will try. ”
“ You are not being realistic, kid. ”
Keith laughed in sarcasm. “ So training your kid for monsters is realistic. Neglecting your family is realistic. Sometimes, life should not be standing on Logic. Do you even have emotion, Dad? ”
“ Is your brain only thinking about monsters the whole time? Sure, you can tell me about your fear. Think about me. Don’t tell me about being realistic. I will kill myself, rather than ignore my feelings toward you. You are a monster. No father throws their son into the forest for missing their target. ”
Keith paused for a breath.
“ Then, think of your family. I know I messed up but don’t you want to see your family? ”
To that, Keith was silent. His feeling was important but.
“ We will leave tomorrow. No car so probably on foot. ” Keith sighed.
“Jerry got two horses. It is on the north side of the town. About thirty minutes of footwork. ” Roey spoke.