Ryan was jogging along the road to Windhoek, he would reach the city today. He had now moved onto the B6 road and had about twenty-five kilometres to go. A distance that wasn’t too far compared to the distance he had covered in the last three days. Ryan moved off the road to take a break and let his energy recuperate for a bit while grabbing a bite to eat. Biltong and dried fruit had been his staple diet during the daylight hours of the last days, a heavier meal making jogging extremely uncomfortable. Ryan also took a peak at his Character Sheet, to confirm if he had earned any further improvements to his stats.
Ryan Alexander Hunter
Level
3
Cultivation:
Mortal Realm (mid*)
Experience
330/460
Energy:
621/1135
Statistics
Strength
Muscle Strength
16
Intellect
Speed
10
14,0
Tendons
13
12,0
Cognitive
16
Bones
13
Memory
10
Agility
Muscle Speed
15
Will
Resolve
13
14,0
Nerve Speed
15
11,0
Force
10
Cartilage Friction
12
Focus
10
Dexterity
Muscle Control
15
Energy
Capacity
14
12,3
Proprioception
12
15,0
Efficiency
15
Flexibility
11
Regen
16
Constitution
Resilience
17
Perception
Acuity
13
16,0
Healing
14
11,3
Psy Range
8
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Shield
17
Processing
13
Available Points
0
Allocated
317
Affinities
Kinetic (macro)
22
Kinetic (micro)
21
Gravitational
29
Soul
14
Space
71
Time
37
Matter
12
Electromagnetic
19
Biological
19
Psychic
22
Skills
Class Skills:
None
Profession Skills:
None
General:
11 782 listed
(expand)
Special Skills:
1 listed
(expand)
Unique:
None
Achievements
First Kill, Sneaky Bastard, David vs. Goliath, Hat-trick
Traits
Protean, Indomitable
One more point to Shield, Muscle Strength and Muscle Speed today. All in all, the long jog to town had proven itself a decent growth opportunity for his more physical stats. His regular face-plants when attempting to discover how to cultivate also resulting in some good gains to Endurance. His new cell clusters on his skin had gotten quite a work-out trying to generate a Shield protecting him from falls.
He still hadn’t figured out what cultivation was supposed to mean, but trying to follow the Energy flows had brought gains, his available pool and efficiency had grown, although he had no idea why. The Interface also informed him that his Status was artificially inflated due to a seeded core. Something he didn’t understand either. It would be best if he could get some solid advice on that issue. Resolve must have grown back at the homestead when he got the Indomitable trait. Another thing that would need some exploration.
His level was stuck, Ryan hadn’t seen the need to hunt for provisions and considered killing an animal without sufficient reason unethical. So, because he hadn’t been attacked by any mutated wildlife, he hadn’t netted a single kill. Once he found William he would need to find a viable way to increase his levels. But that was another problem for later.
Break over, Ryan hoisted his backpack and resumed jogging. He quickly delved into his energy system, a process that was coming far easier by now and which he could mostly maintain while jogging. The smooth tarmac also made the entire process somewhat safer, lessening his risk of falling when stumbling over something. By now, Ryan had intermittently glimpsed the Energy surrounding him, initially triggered by the realisation that some energy was fed from his lungs to his centre. Most of his regeneration came from his stomach, absorbing food. A trickle from his skin and the rest from his lungs. Was he absorbing and converting ambient energy to fuel his regeneration? Probably. Ryan had been considering the question over the last two days, taking note of everything he could figure out, but he lacked a discussion partner, or better, someone who might have a deeper insight into this issue.
The first indication that something was seriously wrong was the burning line stitching itself across his ribcage. The second the sharp crack of a round being fired at him. Ryan, startled out of his introspection, went sprawling into the ditch. Several more bullets cracked past him.
Ryan had felt pretty safe during the past few days and relaxed his initial vigilance, focused on furthering his understanding of the energy system. That inattention had been a mistake Ryan realised belatedly. His shock at being shot at hadn’t abated, but Ryan was aware of the precarious situation he now found himself in.
Whoever had shot at him had shot with the intent to kill, no warning given. Ryan was in the ditch, which provided cover but wouldn’t allow him to figure a way out of this situation. He was fairly certain of where he was, just over the small rise heading towards the eastern roadblock, whose occupants, whoever they now were, had shot at him. He estimated that he had been about 250 metres away from the roadblock when they fired the first shot. Ryan had a decent recollection about the topography of the area and the shallow ditch he was in opened up to the mountainside facing the roadblock, he wouldn’t find any cover there.
Ryan noticed the blood, “Right, I’ve been shot!” Adrenalin had muted the pain and he had simply forgotten that initial pain in his panic. He forcibly calmed himself down, gingerly probing at the wound in his side. Then he lifted his shirt. Relief flooded him, just a graze, he thought. He probed his ribs, they were sore. Bruised but not broken he suspected.
Capable to move, “I need to move!” Once they had a sightline into the ditch he would be a sitting duck. He was unable to access his rifle without exposing himself and the revolver didn’t have the range needed to defend himself from his assailants if they were smart enough not to approach him directly. He heard the assailants shouting in Ovambo, but he had a limited comprehension of the language.
Crossing the road would be risky, but he would find cover north of it. But why had they shot at him? Judging from the weapons fire it was an automatic weapon and most likely belonged to the security personnel manning the roadblock. Why would they shoot at him? He was approaching the post openly, not carrying any arms ready to deploy. Not being a threat at all. Why were they shouting, it just gave away their positions.
Ryan’s thoughts kept spinning of tangentially, “Act now! Figure stuff out later.” he admonished himself. If he could cross the embankment on the other side he’d be out of sight of the roadblock and could find cover further up the valley. There was an industrial park there a bit further back along the road and good tree- and bush-cover.
Steeling his nerves, Ryan rolled over and started his move from a prone position. It wasn’t the fastest start but he quickly crossed the road and scrambled up the embankment. He nearly made it to the top before they resumed fire. Something tugging at his backpack as he rolled over and dropped out of sight. Ryan crawled a bit further, keeping low, before he got into a crouch and started running towards better cover.
The fence was a problem, he’d have to run along the industrial park until he could get to the river and cover behind it. He was fairly certain that he was out of effective range for the time being, then considered that he was lucky that they had opened fire at extreme range, extreme range for an assault rifle that was. Ducking into the river Ryan felt safe for the moment. Ryan dropped his backpack and grabbed his rifle. The action and scope were covered by his sleeping bag and didn’t appear to have taken any damage. The suppressor was scuffed but its alignment seemed fine too. Chambering a round and grabbing some more ammunition from the backpack he picked the backpack up and quickly proceeded moving down the dry river bed.
The trail he left was fairly obvious, and every little while a drop of blood would mark it even further. Ryan doubted that they would follow him, but kept an ear open for any sign of pursuit. He was quickly reaching the side-road he would need to cross to get to deeper cover along the main river running through the valley. His options would open up then.
Ryan approached the road at a full sprint, his approach covered by the bushes along the riverbank. Dashing across the road he heard some more fire directed his way but wasn’t hit before he disappeared into cover again. They had tried to cut him off, someone with tactical understanding as good or better than his had made the correct deductions, reasoning out Ryan’s only sensible way out of the situation.
He was in the main river now, the sand slowing him down considerably. Depending on their numbers, they could easily cut him off at various points. His only advantage currently that they couldn’t be certain which direction he would head in. His problem, he couldn’t safely leave the river if they were close enough to shoot at him, it was the only cover.
Ryan decided to head downriver, approaching the roadblock. They might not expect the move and the cover was thicker down at the damn. If they had a half-decent tracker they’d be able to follow him, but if they chose to communicate he’d be able to determine their approximate positions by sound.
Hitting the damn quicker than he expected he moved along the northern edge, trying his best to stay in cover before deciding to take a risk and rushing across the open hillside to once again disappear over a slight rise. Now they would have trouble approaching him unseen and Ryan decided to quickly open some distance and headed along a jeep track up the hillside, moving in direction of the mountainous terrain north of the B6. Reaching the top of the hill he heard several shouts down at the damn, he had been spotted. Ryan dropped behind the crest, prone, turned around and settled behind his rifle, sighting down towards the damn.
A five man group of mixed army and police personnel were rushing up the hill, running without consideration for cover. Ryan was done being the hare so he aimed at the leader of the group, still out of comfortable range at about half a kilometre, and sent a bullet into the ground ahead of them. The group split and dropped, trying to find cover. His position however was great, he had oversight over the whole hill and could pin any of them down if they so much as made a move in his direction.
The slight wind carried intermittent snatches of subdued screams to him, whether they were coordinating or someone had been wounded was unclear. So far they hadn’t made a move. Ryan was content to wait, feeling uncomfortable with the idea of taking a human life. If they forced the issue, he would shoot to kill. Ryan reloaded his magazine, and kept three further bullets handy. With the chambered bullet he had four shots ready and if they chose to rush, he could comfortably hit centre body mass at 300 metres plus, the hunting bullets would take them down effectively. If any got close, he’d still be in an advantageous position, he was in good cover and they would be exposed all the way, his greatest advantage however would be range he decided. If they chose to attack, he’d shoot to kill until they got to about 200 metres from the crest and then retreat. He should be able to reach another firing position by then.