---
Sever Capacity : 60/83.6
???? ????? ???????? : 20/20
---
Ace looked down at his stats triumphantly. Aside from his Sever Capacity increasing its cap, he noticed that his body wasn't completely devoid of energy like in the scrapyard day.
Seeking to confirm his suspicions, he dismissed the window and summoned it again a few seconds later.
---
Sever Capacity : 45/83.6
---
"So that's how it is huh?" He said aloud. "I get it know..."
Ace slumped back down against the tree as he thought about Talos's words in the scrapyard. "Your body is using excess energy to compensate for your missing arm".
While he knew the words must have been the truth, he had only now grasped their true meaning.
Whenever he was in a healthy state, his body would reflexively move the Sever towards his shoulder in an attempt to regrow his arm. While it seemed outlandish, he had heard stories of it being done and had even mended his own organs. A single arm shouldn't have been been a problem for the extra dimensional energy.
He shook his head as sighed quietly.
'Rules are rules I guess... even for the Sever. Why can't injuries from birth be healed? Diseases and other ailments aren't off the table but wounds of the flesh are? Just my luck man... At least now I know what's causing my shortage.'
Checking his Sever capacity once again, he could see that it had returned to 0. Before he could could get down on himself, Talos chimed in his head.
[Ace... Do not be discouraged! You have taken the first step towards mastering use of the Sever, feeling its presence in your body. I am not authorized to say much more, but you should take up that weapon again and do what you have done previously! You will understand what I mean.]
'What?! What do you mean?! All I did was cut my hand and it flowed there automatically! I had no control! I've only been able to do that when things were really high stakes!'
Now curious, Ace gripped his crowbar with his teeth and cut his hand yet again. Grimacing from the pain, he tried to look past it as he sensed Sever energy gathering in his palm. As the wound healed and the heat faded, he focused more intensely, trying to ingrain its sensation into his brain.
For a brief moment, the energy was halted in its tracks, stuck beneath his forearm. Then, it was gone without a trace.
Understanding dawned on Ace as he saw what Talos wanted him to do. With nothing but moonlight and his floating orb to keep him company, Ace gripped his crowbar in his teeth and prepared himself for what was to come.
***1 hour later ***
He was hunched against the tree, gasping for air. After damaging his own hand dozens of times, he realized that healing didn't come without cost. Not only did it lower his limited reserves each time, but it also fatigued him. It was almost as he if he had been sprinting the entire hour.
During the time he had been busy, he had only managed to stop the energy for about 2 seconds. It wasn't exactly what he wanted but he was improving.
When he reached down for his crowbar again, a fierce screech erupted from the forest below. Almost dropping his weapon in surprise, he peeked his head out from edge of the thick branch. With the forest floor so far down below, the already sparse moonlight was unable to fully illuminate the ground. He squinted his eyes but saw nothing.
Instead, his ears were bombarded again by the same screech. Only this time, there were multiple rounds, each accompanied by a dull thunk that sounded like something slamming against wood. Ace watched in horror as the tree next to him shook violently before a violent snap echoed throughout the entire forest. No longer stable, the tree swayed violently before falling away from him.
Completely helpless, Ace could only sit against his tree trunk as more and more strange noises erupted all around him. He heard roars in the distance, felt vibrations drill his body in a rhythm that resembled footsteps, and saw more trees be felled relatively close to him.
Terrified for his life, Ace jammed his crowbar deep into the tree bark, took off his belt, and tied himself to the hook end of his weapon. He hoped that if something hit the tree he wouldn't randomly be thrown off into the deathtrap that was the forest floor.
*** Next Morning ***
Curled in a ball and tightly gripping his makeshift safety harness, Ace had weathered the storm that was the night. At least once every thirty minutes a titanic battle would take place between the Sever Beasts native to the forest. He had fallen asleep several times, only to be woken up by massive vibrations and his body being thrown towards the edge of his branch. Each time, his harness would wrench his body back. He had never been so grateful for his overly cautious demeanor.
Once the sun rose, the furious battles ceased, finally giving him time to rest. He woke up only an hour later, confirmed by him checking the trial timer. It was the only thing in his possession that allowed him to keep track of time.
Stolen story; please report.
Turning his attention to the canopy above, Ace grumbled internally.
'Not only can I not drink from the nearby river, but it's unlikely I'll get very far. I was lucky to have made it here in the first place... I should at least be able to control my sever before I even attempt going back down there. I don't care how many days it takes. I'd rather die of dehydration than face whatever awaits me at the bottom of these trees.'
Feeling rested, Ace untied his harness, pulled out his crowbar and went about climbing the tree. Much more familiar with the technique, he managed to breach the canopy after only another hour of climbing. Finally at the top, he was once again greeted with a glorious view of the surrounding landscape. He took it all in before he noticed something that made him duck down immediately.
Off in the distance on top the tree tops was something very familiar to Ace, a Raven nest. He observed it patiently, seeing many of the avian creatures depart and arrive at the nest.
He smiled to himself.
'This is how I do it! This is how I stay off the ground!'
Treading carefully, Ace crawled forward on one of the many branches that grew out from the the top of his tree. Directly beneath the canopy, a vast array of branches interconnected like a web, providing a semi stable walkway across the forest canopy. Staying crouched down, he made his way over to the bird nest.
After an agonizingly slow journey, he arrived. There had been some close calls but he remained undetected.
Unwilling to rise from the canopy and expose his full body, he descended the tree he was on and passed a couple branches on the way down. Finding one that was quite wide and still many dozens of feet off the ground, he set himself comfortably on it. He then cracked open an egg and consumed it. He would have to keep his strength for what came next.
Bracing himself, he began to carve a hole in the branch he intended to sleep on. He first started with an outline that could easily fit his body. He then transitioned to carving a deep enough impression that would prevent him from rolling off the branch in his sleep.
It took him over five hours but eventually he completed the task. He had even carved in some curved knobs which would allow him to strap into the bed with his belt. Looking down, he couldn't help but admire his handiwork.
'It's not a bed but it'll definitely do!'
With his main objective for the day completed. Ace resumed the painful process of trying to control the sever within his body. With one egg left he had full intentions of not going above the canopy for at least two nights.
Gripping the crowbar in his teeth, he cut into his hand.
*** Two Days later ***
After training entirely through both nights and both days without sleep, Ace crumpled into his bed, gasping for air.
He had made a breakthrough.
His body no longer attempted to automatically heal his missing arm. Instead it dissipated into the rest of his body thinly after healing. As a testament to his success, he stared at his Sever capacity which he had flickering on and off in front of his face.
3.6/83.6
While the value was low from all the self-inflicted damage, it no longer decreased with time.
'I'm no master yet, but at least I have access to my reserves now!'
Completely exhausted, he shoved the crowbar back into his boot before falling asleep.
*** Hours Later ***
Ace was awoken by a strong vibration that shook not only his tree, but every other tree in the vicinity. A few times a second, the vibration would repeat itself, almost as if it were the result of footsteps. Too scared to move, he tried to find comfort in his thoughts.
'There's no way anything is big enough t-'
Just then, a dark shadow passed by him.
With blood that was now ice cold, he slowly peaked out over the edge and tried to trace the shape of the shadow by using the moonlight. Much to his horror, it extended all the way down into the darkness of the forest floor.
The creature continued to amble through the forest, with each of its steps shaking the earth.
He shuddered as he skimmed the creature's guide entry.
---
Mutated Black Bear
Highest Grade on Earth : Grade 3
Number in proximity : 1x Grade 1 (Not fully grown)
---
After seeing the third line, he didn't even want to read the rest of the description. It wouldn't help; the beast was so far out of his class that death would have been instantaneous. He only hoped that he wouldn't have to fight it.
Eventually, the shaking from the Bear's footsteps stopped, giving Ace the time do what he had planned for that night.
Once again, he crawled through the canopy. Only this time, once he reached it he continued towards the Raven nest. Next, he gripped the branches and twigs that made up the outer wall and began to climb.
Peeking his head over the edge, he almost fell off in surprise.
Within the nest, there was a lone raven surrounded by dozens of batches of eggs. It was hopping around, diligently checking eggs as it squawked into the sky. Ace could only assume that it was calling out for others of its kind. He figured that many of them had been scared off by the massive creature that passed directly below them.
Not wanting to waste this chance, Ace threw himself over the ledge and tip toed around the side of the nest opposite the bird. With each second, he tucked an egg into his pockets. He didn't know when a chance such as this would present itself again so he grabbed as many eggs as he could.
With his presence still unknown to the Raven patrolling the nest, Ace dashed off towards the wall and climbed over it as if his life depended on it. Directly behind him, he heard the sounds of multiple loud squawks as the rest of the flock began to arrive back at their home. Keeping composed, he dropped into the canopy and crawled within its leaves until he found his tree. He descended it quickly while remaining quiet.
Crouching down, he emptied his pockets into a groove in the main trunk. He had managed to swipe six eggs from the nest. Looking down at his quarry, he felt a sense of approval.
'Rus would be proud... although I could have gotten even more if I had a back pack. This should hold me over for a while, especially if I only eat one every other d-!'
He was stopped short in his thoughts by a small cracking sound. At first he thought his branch was about to break but the tiny sound resounded again. This time, he found its source. It was coming from the eggs he had just stolen.
With each repetition of the sound, small cracks began to appear on the surface of an egg. Then, the egg made no noise. The silence continued for about a minute before there was a loud snapping sound.
Ace looked down.
Staring back at him from the broken egg was a slime covered infant Raven. It looked at him curiously before going back to breaking out from its eggshell prison. Once free, the infant raised its head upwards and began squawking loudly. Alarmed, Ace grabbed the slime-covered infant and raised his arm to throw it. Before he could however, Talos spoke in his mind.
[Wait! You should not kill the creature! It merely thinks you are its mother. Should you nurture it, it may prove to be a valuable ally.]
Ace lowered his arm.
'Nurture it?! I can't even feed this thing!'
[Your blood will suffice, it is rich in sever energy, similar to the blood of the sever beast that it would normally eat.]
Ace hesitated. With every second that passed, he worried that a Raven would burst through the canopy in response to the infant's cries. Taking Talos's words to heart, he set the Raven down and then jammed his crowbar into the tree bark. Moving quickly, he cut his finger on the weapon and raised it above the creatures mouth.
As the chick feasted on his blood, Ace imagined the possibilities of having a Sever Beast as a friend, especially one that could fly. It gave him some interesting ideas...
At the same time, he was even more concerned.
Caring for himself in a unknown environment was one thing, but fending for the both of them was a different story. It was a burden he wasn't sure he could carry...