Is… This Possible?

Phesx felt his vision falter for a second, everything went black. That was enough for whatever was hunting him to hurt him. He felt a long, thick, sharp object slide into his left ribs, breaking whatever it found apart and slashing towards his heart. Phesx Caolia screamed and opened his eyes, further widening his jaw, and locked the claw in his body downwards. “AAAAAH!”

The fear this creature caused on Phesx Caolia wasn’t little. It looked like a crocodile, but also a dog’s head, and it had a snout, similar to one of the things always hunting him even if he closed his eyes shut. It had gooey, black skin, like layers upon its body, and it also seemed like a bug, with multiple little arms and paws, with little claws coming from its digits.

Its mouth was snout-ish, and its teeth were much like a dog, but better organized, with 4 extremely long fangs that went through its snout. It was 3 meters long, perhaps. Phesx Caolia was too altered to confirm with his calculative eyes. But its strength wasn’t small, and it seemed to have long, tough scales all under that gooey black liquid.

Phesx Caolia’s scream made the thing stop for a moment and blink its strangely white, small eyes, with large, curved pupils. Phesx Caolia’s eyes went mad as he jerked his head forward, where the thing was moving one of its actual arms towards his neck. It had 4 limbs, 2 for each side, and were about 1 meter long. They had half a meter long sole-claws extending from the middle of its paw’s 2 thick, grotesque digits.

“Keeeezk!” The creature shrieked, watching as sharp, white teeth chomped away its arm, with scales and all. It thrashed about, suffering a loss it never did before. Meanwhile, Phesx Caolia gasped as he felt heated and getting hotter in his left ribs, inside his body, and dizzy.

Bang, bang, bang!

Screeeaaaach! The creature was startled by the sound of gunfire. It looked at Phesx Caolia, who held his rifle weakly and with its butt against the ground. Yet, even with the gunshot effect, Phesx only saw sparks go off as the creature squinted its eyes, vertically standing on its 2 legs.

Gyaaaaah! The thing screeched again, this time lunging towards Phesx Caolia with an arm, as its other claw fell to the water, but Phesx didn’t even think of getting it to hurt this thing. Phesx, however, grew balls and held his rifle high before elbowing down at the incoming thing.

The creature felt its head knocked by his elbows, but only that, nothing harmed it. On the other hand, Phesx felt his body hurt, numbing, and semi-paralyzed. It wasn’t that he grew strong out of nowhere, he was still himself!

The creature used its smaller arms and claws to attack Phesx Caolia. He squinted his eyes in pain, but also fervently. He opened his jaws wide without making a sound and placed his fingertips together before sending them into an attack at the creature’s back.

Kzzzzzzaak! The creature shrieked again. The arm it was about to use to stab Phesx Caolia in the guts stopped, paralyzed by the pain of its scales broken through again. But, this time, from 2 different angles.

Phesx Caolia gained ‘enlightenment’ as his eyes overly widened. He looked at his fingers, which were rooted in the creature’s back, and wriggled them inside. Immediately, he felt his nails inside, cutting and slicing anything it found.

‘I can… harm its flesh… its body!’ Phesx Caolia looked down, but he couldn’t see his pistol. Just as he felt the thing’s head soar, its jaws opening, he dived his head onto its head, targeting one of its eyes.

Raoaaarrr! The thing fled away, fearful of Phesx Caolia’s bite. It went on its 4 and looked at Phesx Caolia 2 meters away while the latter had trouble just breathing. However, he could now see its body better, and in detail.

It looked like a grasshopper, but it also had the strange appearance of a long crocodile, and it also had sales. Phesx Caolia couldn’t figure out what or how, but the gooey black liquid might have something to do with this… mutation!

“AAAAh! Come here!” Phesx Caolia lashed out at the thing, feeling his fangs change the sound of his words a little. It was a little similar to the humanized words of a snake, although his were simply short, well-defined… and contained savage, murderous intent. His saliva also slid between his teeth to down his lips.

Keeeeeeeezk! The mutant creature launched itself forwards out of nowhere, headbutting Phesx Caolia, who felt some of his bones breaking apart, and an object entering his body from the side of his right thigh. It immediately went further up, arriving at his hip, cutting sections of his bones!

“Dayna here! I’ve heard gunshots from Hellcat’s general position! But we can’t move! We’re stuck with scum around here! We need reinf…”

Phesx Caolia heard the radio as his torso was clawed and torn apart by the little claws. However, it couldn’t have come at a worse time. With as much strength as he could imaginably use, he moved his hands below the things’ claws and cut them off one by one with robotic, inaccurate sideways motions.

The creature shrieked, and in return, it took its claw out of Phesx Caolia’s thigh and started stabbing him all around. Phesx Caolia threw his head backwards before letting out a hoarse, bloodthirsty howl out of his throat and nostrils, “Greyyywwwwwahhh~!!”

Ziiiiiiiiiieeeszzzk! The thing responded with its own cry, but only itself and Phesx Caolia could hear it. Phesx Caolia kicked it, using his toes to penetrate at it as well, and felt his boots breaking further apart with each kick. Believing he was successful, he grabbed the thing’s shoulders, if they could be called that, and squeezed with all he had.

The creature stopped stabbing from the sheer pain before widening its jaws, throwing saliva out at Phesx Caolia’s wounds and skin. Then, under his fiercely squinted eyes, it dove in with its fangs easily penetrating through.

“!!” Phesx Caolia’s eyes widened, but his eyebrows intensely furrowed as he felt its fangs clipping at his stomach, eating small parts of his skin, and trying to go for the bones.

“AAAAARRRGGHH!!” Phesx Caolia madly swung his hands, around, moving everywhere around the creature’s back. From its head, to its neck, and as far down its back as he could, but Phesx Caolia still felt his abdomen munched on. His head, neck, and shoulders crazily thrashed while being eaten.

“Ehehe- heh, haha- ahahah…” With all his strength on clawing the creature back, just as it did with his torso, Phesx Caolia began crackling up with low chuckles all by himself. However, unbeknownst to him, he layered the mutant’s back, revealing large spots of mangled flesh and broken scales.

Although Phesx Caolia didn’t know it, the creature had considerably weakened, with a lot of its disgusting dark greenish red blood sipping out like bubble gum juice. Still, currently, it had a piece of Phesx Caolia’s flesh between its teeth and was pulling from it, crackling lightning flashes of pain in Phesx’s mind.

Remembering he had toes, he started kicking its stomach and abdomen again and again. This time, Phesx Caolia immediately gained the upper hand, forcing the creature to back away. He threw himself backwards, and ignoring the sight of bones showing from his thighs to his shoulders, he grabbed his rifle with his right arm and small pistol with his left arm before aiming.

Bang, bang bang bang, bang, bang bang bang bang, bang, bang, bang bang….

The mutant went on its four limbs again, as much as it could, and crawled to the side of the wall opposite of Phesx Caolia. It looked at the light black eyes, calmly squinted, and coldly staring back at it. Phesx Caolia pulled the trigger with trembling fingers and feeling his entire body regurgitating within his stomach.

The rifle fired away every 2 small pistol’s shots, firing at the same time every now and then. Meanwhile, the mutant’s back exploded part by part, leaving behind only explosive gore and an immobile carcass behind.

Slash, slap, fu-tomp, splash, splash… When Phesx Caolia finished shooting at the thing, it was only ⅕ of its original volume, and had lost any signs of life. Pieces of it fell on the water. It was deafening after all the roaring. Its head and a couple limbs remained, but not untouched. Its claws were thrown away, floating on the pool after breaking apart.

“Beep. I hear gunshots again, over here! Southwest!” Dayna’s voice sounded from the radio as Phesx Caolia picked his feet up and walked out of the pool. He watched, as he walked out of the water, how his teeth were also sharpened and slightly elongated. It was nothing, maybe 1 or 2 millimeters, but they formed a pointy shape, and even seemed a little bulkier.

It was similar to his nails, which were only sharpened and pointy. When he arrived at the ‘shore’, he fell, unable to continue anymore, and trembling all over as he felt coldness seep into his very marrow.

‘This karma? Heh… don’t really care.’ Phesx Caolia’s eyes blurred as he rested on the ground. His hands no longer held his weapons, letting them rest at the side after killing an unimaginable creature.

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“He’s there!” - “Oh my heaven, what the hell just happened?!” - “Hellcat!” - “Move aside. Medic!”

Phesx Caolia heard the other soldiers yelling as they found him. At last, he heard Paul’s worried shout and Em’s serious but also loud voice. Phesx Caolia kicked his right foot into action, gesturing towards the mutant’s corpse.

When they understood, a few soldiers went to investigate, firing at it with a rapid submachine gun just to be safe. Then, the lieutenant arrived and marveled at the stupid, bizarre, maddening sight of a 4 meters long mutated thing. It had 1 meter-long arms, and that’s without speaking of one of its claws still remaining in its semi-intact left leg.

“Hellcat, how the hell? What… did you do to this thing?” The lieutenant held his head and looked at Phesx Caolia after checking the scales’ durability. Then, he looked around before questioning him, “Where’s Muwdo? What happened to him? Why isn’t he here?”

Phesx Caolia just rolled his eyes before slowly blinking his eyelids. He just wanted to sleep, but remembering what he’s learned in the training regimen, and Sofia’s caring nagging, he forced those little, heavy eyelids up.

“Sir, he needs attention!” Paul discarded status and yelled at the LT. Em didn’t wait for an order before nodding towards a medic. Phesx Caolia was injected something in his intact, right jugular. The medic had to pinch his skin and all, while Em put pressure on the other side of his neck. ‘Mm, that’s useless. Oh well.’

Knowing the injection won’t do a thing to his body, not even the medical properties, Phesx Caolia made a few biting motions, feeling a little less cold. Em and Paul helped carry Phesx Caolia into a stretcher, with the comrades Phesx Caolia went out accompanying him by the side.

Paul became silent, and Em seemed thoughtful. The mutant’s appearance was something stupidly enigmatic, but it wasn’t what took their minds away from the current situation.

The lieutenant and the other soldiers remained around the area, already getting ready to move the corpse and bring it back in the LT’s truck. He looked at Phesx Caolia’s clothes he left behind, which left him partially bare, all torn up and bloodied, with some skin layers here and there…

Staring at a broken phone, so damaged it couldn’t even be considered one, and that he only recognized by the logo of Prequa military camp, the LT shook his head before leaving.

… Phesx Caolia’s body was filled with injuries of all kinds, even those that easily surpassed the ones he did to the tall soldier, and was bloody. They treated him on the way back to the camp, having to immediately bring him wasn’t a problem because they killed about 40 scum before.

When they arrived at the camp, every medic was alerted and waiting at the military zone entrance. Phesx Caolia was brought down carefully, as many of his bones seemed dislocated, if not broken. Carried on a stretcher’s modded equipment, making it sturdier and safer to go faster through uneven land, he arrived at the hospital tents.

Priscila and other kittens were already present, following nearby, when Sofia’s shrill, headstrong shrills sounded from the side. “Get away! Step aside and leave him to me!”

Sofia was blocked by some nurses and soldiers, when the LT shouted, granting her entry, “Let her in!”

Sofia thanked the soldier with a glance before walking to Phesx Caolia’s stretcher, still moving towards a tent. “I’m gonna need 20 litres of water and a full bag of ice cubs. Make sure they come with an icebox.”

“Alright… you heard the doctor, obey her!” The lieutenant shouted at the nurses, who glared at the officer in charge. Knowing this meant they shouldn’t do more than asked, they nodded and departed. Meanwhile, despite being them, Sofia shooed Paul and the others away. Dismissively.

Sofia brought Phesx Caolia into a tent and began cleaning his wounds again, which were bleeding still, while the young boy had already lost consciousness. Afterwards, checking there was no pus or more signs of infection anywhere, she bandaged him after putting some medical creams on him. That’s right, nothing else.

. . .

“Mmf…” Phesx Caolia opened his eyes, feeling a heavy numbness above his left thigh, and his entire body sore. His eyelids struggled to remember how to move, until they didn’t. He lifted his head to look down on himself, immediately waking the heavy weight on him.

“Ah, you’re up.” Sofia lifted her head and calmly said to Phesx Caolia. She sat up and rubbed her knees and neck before passing him a large bottle of water. Phesx Caolia felt small, melting ice cubs fall from his forehead, which was further bandaged with black ribbons, and had held the ice cubes so far.

“Ugh…” Phesx Caolia groaned. Sofia smiled and seemed to enjoy his misfortune, smiling with her upper lip exerting too much force, looking silly and cute. “Yeah, yeah. Are you feeling it now? Not even that thing’s blood can face yours off. Time to let it go out.”

‘It’s the worst feeling.’ Phesx Caolia squinted his eyes and frowned, utmost disgusted at the worst sensation in the world. He grabbed the bottle and untapped it, but he didn’t feel like drinking it right away. Wanting to vomit, he’d rather shit for days nonstop, but that couldn’t be chosen.

“Huh? What about my blood?” Phesx Caolia turned to Sofia, processing something, at last. Sofia nodded but said nothing more. Only she knew about the strangeness of his blood… and body. If she were to inject him with medicament, and give him pills, it would only make his sickness move quicker, albeit he’d have to throw up or have diarrhea for a couple of days.

In simple terms, Phesx Caolia gets food poisoning from medicament after entering his body once he’s become ‘immune’ to it. Only outer body supplies, like cream and spray, work on him. But those are only a ‘side dish’ in the medical world, not meant to be used as the primary medicine for anything.

In other words, it could also be said that his body refuses the medicine. Yet, it can heal itself. It wasn’t anything marvelous, though. If he had a flu, it would take him a week and a half instead of a few days with medicament to recuperate. Only time will tell how long until he can fully recuperate from something like this.

“I feel sleepy,” Phesx Caolia commented, feeling his stomach warm, but at least it wasn’t holes breathing air anymore. Sofia nodded, gestured to the bottle in his left hand, “Then drink. I’ll put more ice between your fingers and toes next.”

“How long was I gone?” Phesx Caolia asked. Sofia forced a yawn down before responding, “Almost 8 hours. The skin partitions will arrive the next day, but you’ll have to wait much longer for your bones and blood. Moving not allowed, understood?”

“Yes, moooom~.” Phesx Caolia groaned before tilting his head backwards. The water bottle slowly lost its contents, all gone down Phesx Caolia’s throat. He felt his stomach move, and the worst sensation any living being could go through, wanting to vomit, became more obvious.

A few breaths later, he seemed to calm down a little. Sofia heard a beep from her laptop before turning around. She then faced Phesx Caolia and spoke, “The tests of your ‘new’ blood will soon come out. It’s so delayed with these machines. Would you like to see it?”

Phesx Caolia nodded before Sofia passed another large bottle of water to his left hand. He began drinking it while Sofia checked the first result. “Hmm.”

“Ah. I think I need to go to the bathroom.” Phesx Caolia exclaimed after finishing his water. But Sofia, who turned around and looked at him with a small, thin smile, responded. “You already did.”

“Uh oh.” Phesx Caolia’s spirits fell, being caught with not wanting to. Before he could say a thing as Sofia went back to her laptop, he twisted his torso and began vomiting at the side of the stretcher. Meanwhile, Sofia’s eyes super widened out of nowhere.

There was a representation of a magnified point of view from the moment Sofia poured his blood on a broken scale’s side. Phesx Caolia’s blood would meet anything at its own level and begin ‘devouring’ the other, basically just destroying it and keeping it away from merging or Phesx Caolia’s body. Now, however, after Sofia found a strange new ‘feature’ on his healing body, she realized that his blood was ‘coating’ a very thin transparent layer on his wounds.

If going by a mathematical deduction, it might take months for his blood to curate the wounds, and with the skin partitions, Phesx Caolia might heal his flesh back with an adequate diet after 2 months. He couldn’t take this high-end medicament, but his body could work that out on its own. It wasn’t proven, but she could experiment a little…

Of course, she also knew something was missing. It was possible that, if not medicament, Phesx Caolia’s body could instead… ‘evolve’ with technology. Mechanical limbs, robotic synchronization programs, handless driving, and super smartphones and systems were all too well-known and respected in the world, but they were impossible to attain. They didn’t even have a cost. Only governments had these, and they weren’t foolproof.

If Phesx Caolia was to have a technology like that, it had to be something humane, not something that could be connected to an existing system. More like a prosthesis, but not a prosthesis. In short, something she couldn’t understand now.

However, when Sofia looked at the first results, she was stupefied until her pores shook and shivered. His blood was like a magical, colossal wave, throwing tentacle-like lumps ahead to collide against the scale’s wounded side.

However, it didn’t ‘eat’ or corrode anything. Instead, over the course of 10 minutes, a not-even-a nanometer of the broken scale was… healed? It looked like it became very smooth and repaired, like it had been polished countless times by the greatest craftsman’s hands, trillions of them.

A lot of blood was needed for this. Furthermore, it wasn’t something that was ‘uncontrollable’. After that nanometer of the scale was ‘fixed’, the blood stopped moving and was just like ordinary blood on a broken scale. Nothing happened.

Sofia immediately checked the scale and blood again before putting it in a delicate crystal box detached from a small, but long, machine at the other end of her desktop. While Phesx Caolia emptied his guts, Sofia checked the other results.

She lowered the tent’s light and slid a black blind behind her in case someone sneaked on her. Phesx Caolia could see it later, anyway. She increased the screen’s adaptability before putting on some glasses that followed her intentions, and further on when she murmured things.

Sofia’s eyes were opened fully, narrowing at certain times to check something, when she finally noticed something else. Her hands trembled as she gently and slowly took her glasses off. Her eyes’ contents shrank, losing any bit of rationality in them, waking something hidden deep inside her tough heart, a thirst but now also need for pioneering science; technology.

Before her, the screen was reddish, emitting a corresponding glow on Sofia’s face and the blind behind her. However, there was a little something else. It was greenish, but also obscure, almost dark. Or, it was dark and green, with a strange, ephemeral glow that confused the naked eye, as it did with Sofia, not letting her see it on the first time she laid her eyes on this screen.

After studying it closely, with her glasses letting her ‘zoom’ into Phesx Caolia’s blood as if it was materialized just before her, Sofia’s eyes simply couldn’t help trembling…

There was a green net moving along any form and movement that a bit of Phesx Caolia’s blood made. Even when it was just a drop of blood, it was perfectly netted, with his blood seemingly not bulging out of it like a tight formation.

Confused and shocked to the deepest corners of her mind, Sofia followed her instincts and compared it with previous analysis of his blood, only to find…

The net was there before, too. However… it wasn’t as ‘obvious’ as it is now. This discarded Sofia’s theories of Phesx Caolia being a mutation in human history like never heard before. Could he be… evolving!?

…