The truck that had brought Kyto back after he had completed the cooler repairs was arriving at the town gates. He could restart the cooler as soon as he switched the power cable over. He had also built a frame that lifted the power cables from the ground to prevent a similar occurrence of rat damage.
He had spent time showing Carl the generators' electrics while waiting for the cable to arrive and how they operated, which would allow for basic repairs if any electrical issues occurred. Carl had been thankful for the information, considering that skill knowledge and specialisations were precious.
Kyto was looking forward to getting home and sleeping in his own bed. He had been away a total of five nights. He knew TJ had told Tabs when he was expected back, as he had taken Mark's body and the recovering Gar back to town with him. They had crossed paths as they had been travelling back to town by TJ bringing the next shift up to replace John and Tim. The Grylack had not returned as close to the compound, but there had been sightings, so they would maintain a presence for the foreseeable.
Kyto had got a lift back with the following collection run. Greg had not been the driver, and the new driver, Ed, was not a talker. He had tried starting conversations, but it had been like talking to a brick wall every time he did—most of the journey had been silent.
As the truck approached the gates, he noticed Tabs standing with Ryan, waving them down.
Kyto leaned out of the truck window, smiling at Tabs.
"I thought you would be working." He called.
"We need you now." She called Kyto, noticing the look of panic on her face.
"What is wrong?"
"Just hurry."
Ed pulled the truck to a stop, allowing Kyto to grab his gear and the crate of tonic and climb down.
"What is the hurry?"
"You will see when we get there."
Lars was sitting in their truck by the gatehouse, and Tabs rushed him along.
He threw his gear in the back, and Lars gunned the engine, heading straight back to the house.
"What is going on?" He said, concern on his face.
"It is hard to explain, but we need you to heal him." She said.
"Heal who?"
"Tiddles."
"Who is Tiddles."
"Tiddles is the beast."
"Beast! What do you mean?"
"Long story short, we have guests, and Sniffer is a beast handler whose beast is injured. Crystal and Elizabeth have been unable to heal it, and the only thing that has helped slightly was your imbued tonics."
Kyto's head spun with a thousand questions.
"Questions can wait." Tabs said, looking at the expression on Kyto's face as he went to speak.
It did not take Lars very long to push the truck as he did to return to the house, and as soon as the truck stopped, Crystal shouted.
"Hurry. He is fading fast."
Kyto jumped out of the truck and ran towards the garage where Crystal had entered, and he followed her inside—stopping dead in his tracks at the sight before him.
The beast was huge, but more than that, he recognized him, and the man crouched at his side.
Kyto grabbed Tab's arm and quickly dragged her back outside.
"What?" She said, snapping at him.
"That is them."
"Who and what are you talking about?"
"You know when we left the farmhouse by the factory and stole the vehicle."
"Yes."
"That is the man and his beast, although it looks much bigger now."
Tab’s eyes flashed, and her expression went through shock, fear, then anger in a moment before returning a stern expression.
"I do not care. He needs healing." She grabbed him by his arm, dragging him back into the garage. Kyto strained against her initially, but she gripped onto his jacket, pulling him whether he liked it or not.
The man by the beast looked over as he entered again. Their eyes met, and Sniffer frowned slightly, recognition flashing across his face. Any thought left his face as it was replaced with a pleading look. "Please help him."
His eyes were red, and he had been crying, and Kyto could now read the panic and fear that took over.
Kyto stood for a moment, just staring at the man, and turned to look at the beast properly. His display triggered.
You have discovered another Enlightened. Would you like to form a party? Yes/No
"What the fuck!"
"What is wrong." Tabs said.
"It is an Enlightened."
Tab’s and Crystal's faces told the feeling of shock without them uttering a word in response.
Kyto looked at his display again. He was confused, concerned and excited all at once. Another Enlightened who he had an option to party with, whatever that meant. He briefly considered his options and accepted yes, intrigue replacing anything else.
Congratulations on forming your first party. The party menu gives you further options to consider.
Kyto quickly flicked through the display menus he now had. One showing party details. There were two names in the list: his own and now Tiddles. Next to each name was a green bar. His bar showed at 100%. The beast named Tiddles was at 4% with a flashing sign. He concentrated on the flashing sign.
Necrotic toxin poisoning.
Kyto stared from his display to the beast and back again.
"He has a necrotic toxin poisoning." He said as he watched the display drop to 3%.
"What the hell is that?" A female voice said.
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He had not noticed the woman before, but she was standing by Crystal now and staring at Kyto.
Kyto did not reply. He knew that he had to save this beast, whatever it took. It was the only other Enlightened he had ever met.
He closed his eyes and began to centre himself. Slowly, he began to form his healing strands and push them towards the beast. The strands entered its body, and his pool began to reduce rapidly. Without a second thought, he called his familiar.
There were sounds of shock from the man and woman, but he paid them no heed. His pool had sunk to nearly 300 already and was not slowing. He was drawing on what he could see, glancing around the room.
"Tabs, I need you and maybe more."
"Do what you need to do." She replied.
The beast's health had risen but only reached 6%. Kyto saw the black aura by the wound, and he knew that this was inside the beast's body, eating away at it, replicating its poison as it claimed its target.
Tabs stood beside him, and he looked at her and began pulling mana from her core. His pool stabilised and remained near 100.
"I am at about 100 but will need much more to heal it." He said.
"What do you need more of?" Sniffer said.
"He needs mana," Crystal replied.
Lars had followed them into the garage and stood next to Tabs, and he signed at Kyto.
Tabs began to weaken after a few minutes, and she sat down before collapsing. Her pool was almost drained. The beast was now back up to 14%.
"It is at 14% health." He said, grimacing with mental concentration, pulling, shaping and pushing.
Kyto switched to Lars. Lars had a large pool, not as dark a golden yellow as TJ's, but a deeper shade of yellow, which looked larger.
"Sit down." He said to Lars.
Lars did as asked as Kyto drew from him as fast as he could, his familiar boosting his supply and pushing his healing strands towards the beast. His display triggered.
Your Enlightened target now has 25% health. You have reached the threshold and hidden requirements to allow for activation of your elite skill actualisation. This is the unique requirement a party member must have to perform the activation. This activation may only be completed once. Yes/No
Lars's pool was dropping fast now, and he only hesitated momentarily before accepting yes.
Are you sure you wish to activate actualisation? Yes/No
He confirmed yes again, and his whole world's perception changed. In the instant he accepted the skill, everything around him altered. It was as though reality had shifted, and he could see every single strand of his mana inside the beast. No longer was he seeing it enter, but how and where it moved within the beast’s body.
Every cell, every battle that his mana fought with the dark aura necrotic toxin. It was as though a hundred battles were taking place at once. Cell after cell, inch by inch, slowly reclaiming the beast's body from the darkness that had been devouring it.
He watched as the darkness moved inside the beast. It appeared to have sentience, switching direction and attacking another area of its body. He directed his stream, moving his strands to encircle the darkness and block its path, preventing its growth.
Everything had become clear in his mind. Manipulating his strands was like they now had sight and could see their enemy weaving through the beast's body. Each strand followed his direction and instructions, and his healing efficiency increased. He could see the beast's elemental flame heart and the weak glow it produced, and he knew it should be burning brightly. Its red heat signature was a fragile reminder of its potency, surrounded by a dark, encompassing aura.
He weaved through his body straight to his core and began to battle. He pushed at the darkness, making it retreat and clearing his core. The glow became brighter as he did. Its core slowly gained strength as it was freed from its grasp.
He knew he needed to touch the core, his activation telling him so, and he allowed a strand to connect with its surface. The core flared, pulsing brightly and releasing a flame. The flame began to combine with his strands, entwining each other as though they became one, no longer being contained; it was as though their souls had been united.
He now knew.
How it moved.
How it fought.
How it thought.
He knew everything about it and knew that the beast now knew everything about him.
A link had been formed, and the skill had created a bond that could never be broken. Now, only death itself could separate their connection.
Kyto suddenly felt fear, anger, hurt, and pain. Not for him but for what this toxin was doing to the beast, and he continued to fight!
"I need more." He said in a deeper tone, straining through the use. Their combined strands were now winning the battle. His mana was still being used quickly, but their combined strength was greater than before. It was as though they were complementing each other.
"Whatever you need, do it." The man responded.
He focussed and pulled. The man visibly shook this time as he sucked his mana from him. His pool increased rapidly with his ability to visualise and see the interwoven strands he fought on. It was no longer a blind battle pushing healing mana in randomly combatting what it found. It was controlled as he continued to reclaim his body. Scouring the aura, and as he did, the black mist appeared by his wound on its leg, firstly as a fine vapour and then more clearly as he pushed and forced the darkness back from the beast's body.
"More," he said.
Crystal stepped up next, sitting down next to Tabs.
The beast was now 65%, and his healing efficiency dramatically improved. Again, he fought; sweat was pouring down his face into his eyes, but he did not notice; he did not blink; he needed to heal his new companion. Each time the aura moved to attack, he defended, blocking and pushing it back. It was getting desperate, lashing out, trying to fight back, but their strands were stronger.
80%.
85%
"More", he cried out. The process was now taking its toll on him. He was visibly shaking from the continual strain of pushing and pulling his mana for a long time.
The woman now stepped forward, sitting as well.
Again, he pulled and pushed and fought.
90%.
95%.
The woman collapsed to the floor, and he stopped pulling. They were all drained; he dared not draw from them again. He did not want to empty their cores. He did not know what it would do to them. He continued to draw from around him every item he could see with a faint glow; he pulled its mana as fast as his skills allowed him, fighting the last battle, his pool dropping as every second passed. No longer able to maintain an even balance.
He watched as the black vapour began to billow from the beast's wound, sending the man hurrying back from it as the wound started to knit closed.
99%.
100%.
The final mana stitch blinked out as the wound closed entirely, and the black vapour finally dispersed.
His display triggered.
Your combined strength has combatted the necrotic toxin 23862 shared experience gained. As party leader, do you want to share the experience equally? Yes/No
He accepted yes, slumping to the ground himself; every fibre of his body had been tense as he was healing, and he felt drained now that he had stopped.
"It is done."
He looked at the beast lying only a few feet away; it was as though he could see inside his body, and he could swear that he could feel his elemental core. He watched the red glow spread, returning its heat to the beast's body. It was similar to mana but denser, appearing more solid, and looked like liquid fire. It was pulsating as though reigniting the beast's life force. He felt he should be able to reach out and touch it. It was wondrous to behold.
Everyone in the room was still sitting on the floor, recovering quickly from the mana drain. He looked at Tabs, who was smiling at him, and he realised they all were.
The man spoke, but he could not hear him. However, he could see tears of joy. The woman spoke, crying; again, he could not hear her. His exhaustion slowly claimed him after exerting so much into the healing. He did not know how long he had been healing, but he felt mentally drained, never mind the physical toll on his body. His temples throbbed, and his limbs felt numb now he had stopped the mana flow.
He had so many unanswered questions, but they would have to wait as his eyes fluttered and he slumped forward unconscious.