Chương 22: Chapter 23: Preparation

BANG BANG BANG! The doors shuddered at the intense force, causing the candles to shrink back in fear, the shadows dancing in their fickle light. A young boy with auburn hair retreated further into his knees. BANG BANG BANG!

"It's for our future!" The morphed voice of a woman came from the other side as it echoed against the walls. The little boy covered his ears, still holding tightly onto the news article he had stolen weeks ago.

"OPEN… THE… DOOR!" The distorted voice exploded in volume, ringing continuously in the boy's ears. The banging stopped. Silence. The boy cautiously looked up to the shut door ahead of him, the edges of the door were surrounded by light. BANG! The door burst inward. Evel woke with a gasp. His eyes shot open and he was immediately blinded by the morning light. His throat was parched and body heavy. He took rapid, shallow breaths as he regained his vision and snapped back to the present.

The chirping of cicadas entered his ears, and the smell of freshly cooked meat wafted to his makeshift bed. Evel turned to see Bremin, slow-roasting a piece of meat over the campfire. It was not the same campfire as the night before, once the red compass had reset, they had spent an hour relocating to avoid a night ambush. With them, they brought a large chunk of the Skydart's wing. Evel felt a small object rapidly approach him from his side and he instinctively caught it.

"Bad dream?" Diana was sitting atop a tree, munching on an inane. Evel looked down at his hands and noticed the familiar pink fruit in his hands as well. With a shudder, Evel replied, "Yeah, I saw a future where I was slowly morphing to your looks."

"Tch." Diana went back to her fruit. Evel also took a bite, quenching his thirst as he allowed the sweet juices to wake him up. These fruits were just so damn good, why had he never seen them in Yosten? His focus shifted to Bremin.

"Is that safe? It's been dead for quite a while now."

"I'm hungry." Evel looked at Bremin closely. The gaping wound in his shoulder had closed, and his wounds had all but disappeared. The only thing that indicated he had been hurt was the state of his clothes. If he can heal through that, then he can probably eat whatever he wants. Then Evel observed his own body. His lighter injuries seemed to all be gone, and only the injury on his foot remained stinging.

He moved around a bit and was pleased to find that his mobility had been restored, only followed by a little pain. His stomach growled. Hmm…

"Pass me a piece too." Bremin nodded, his eyes never leaving the roasting meat. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Then, Evel turned back to Diana.

"I guess we should discuss the plan then." They spent the next half hour discussing the specifics of the plan, readying their equipment and preparing for the battle to come. Occasionally, they'd ask Bremin for his input, but mostly the two discussed amongst themselves. Once they finished their meals and the outline of what was to come became clear, it was finally time to set out. … Elsewhere… Fern sharpened her knife, preparing for the upcoming battle.

Yesterday, her group along with Lucien had managed to take out the clawbear after an intense battle. A few were injured, but in the end everybody survived. Recently a scout, or rather a recruit who had an ability suited to scout, had found another beast. The group which had been just three others when she joined had now ballooned to an impressive eight. Now their little cohort had developed a form. They had dedicated scouts, fighters and utility support. Fern fell into the latter.

Her vines had proved very useful for holding down the clawbear, albeit for a very short time, which had helped them avoid any casualties. Thinking back to that battle, Fern wavered. Her vines had snapped so easily, holding down the bear for no more than a few seconds until she was completely out of Energy as it shredded her vegetation viciously. Thankfully, Lucien was there. Wielding his massive battle-axe with his unconventional ability, he had dealt most of the damage to the beast.

Him and his friend, Igneos who had provided consistent flaming artillery were the two core members holding together this group who'd otherwise have already fought each other. Igneos mostly kept to himself, and the only person he had long conversations with was Lucien. Occasionally, he would share brief remarks to others, little bits of insight, new unique application ideas for their abilities, a curt compliment. It was clear he was intelligent, and his unique perspective made the group strong.

But it was ultimately Lucien's charisma that made people stay. They saw hope with him. Defeating the 50 beasts and making it out with their friends, it was a nice image. Thinking of Lucien's heroic actions, intrusive thoughts barged into her brain but she quickly tossed them out. Right now, survival was her focus. As if summoned by her thoughts, Lucien casually approached Fern from the shadows of the nearby forestry. Giving her a polite smile, he leaned against a tree.

"They say this one's a snake."

"Hm. My vines may not be effective this time." Fern replied, her voice soft. Lucien nodded.

"We're leaving in about half an hour, once the other scouts get back. With all eight of us I don't even think your vines will be necessary." Fern smiled, she had really hit the jackpot with this group. A part of her still wanted to meet up with Juniper and Elena's group. Even though Evel had once looked like a skeleton with his protruding cheekbones, his hard work had helped him recover his frame; he was clearly capable, despite his affinity.

The others were also people she felt she could trust, but the risk-to-reward ratio of leaving now was simply too high. What if she encountered an opposing group? Instead, all she could do was rack up as many points as possible and hope the others would be okay.

"With how big our group has gotten, we can probably absorb anybody else we find and work together to really take out all the beasts." Fern continued to sharpen her knife.

"It won't be so easy," Lucien shook his head.

"By now most people have probably found a group, or have been killed looking for their group, meaning now they feel more confident to chase the bigger rewards." Fern couldn't help but chuckle, remembering her fear when she first saw the clawbear.

"So those behemoths have turned into resources." Lucien's eyes wandered to the distant treeline.

"Strength isn't free." Fern acknowledged this, but if an opportunity to avoid killing fellow countrymen showcased itself, she would tread that path instead. Lucien seemed to also follow her beliefs. He had spared the rewards he could have gotten for killing her hadn't he? Despite no longer feeling a sense of danger, not knowing how Juniper was faring was a ticking clock in her heart. She longed to quickly eliminate all the beasts and get out before any of her friends met their untimely deaths.

"But when they see our overwhelming size, surely they'd join us? I doubt a group of four or five could beat this one, especially with you and Igneos."

"But would they trust us?"

"I trusted you, didn't I?" Lucien gently smiled, turning back to face Fern.

"Would we trust them? So far everyone in our group, except me and Igneos, are individuals who joined for themselves. What if a group of four came in and created a plan to kill the rest of us in our sleep? The idea of rewards alone could corrupt their minds."

"So we'll have to compete for these beasts?"

"Us? No, we got lucky. With our size, I'd like to meet the man confident enough to attack us. Unless the foe was another group of such a size, but even getting to that size is an indication they may choose to work with us."

"I like the sound of that."

"What I'm most concerned about is what happens when a group fails to take down a beast after releasing it. As soon as we don't have the jump on it, it suddenly becomes much harder. You've seen how unreliable my ability can be." Fern nodded.

'Unreliable' was the perfect word to describe his ability. As she understood it, a random aspect of him would get empowered to an absurd degree on every activation of his ability. That could mean he could get extremely fast, or extremely strong, but also it could be something completely irrelevant to the scenario like improved eyesight or hearing.

Against the sealed beasts, it was simply a matter of waiting until he got a good empowerment before releasing it, but should their group get ambushed by some quick animal, they may be forced into a fight without their heaviest hitter. Fern's smile shrank as she considered a situation where she never met the group and encountered a roaming beast while on her own.

"I really do owe you guys so much, you could have killed me. Even if you let me live I might have died somewhere else." Lucien opened his mouth to reply but he swallowed back the words before they could exit his throat. He gave an awkward smile, then lightly bowed at her, indicating it was time for him to leave.

"Half an hour." Fern smiled back as she continued sharpening.