Chương 24: 13A. Awakened At Last

Sam felt like a new man when he stirred from his deep slumber. The first thing he noticed was the stiffness, or lack thereof, in his shoulder. It had plagued him ever since the Inhuman who destroyed Trinity College almost ripped his left arm off. An awakened adept at healing reattached it, but more focused on saving lives and prioritizing quality over quantity, she hadn't returned the joint to its previous, unmolested state. The scar remained, but the shoulder no longer clicked when he rotated his arm.

It was a welcome change. Sam twisted his hips, rolled his neck, and stretched. He didn't feel particularly stronger than before, but the flexibility didn't compare. Leaves rustled outside a touch louder than the day before. Colors were brighter and shapes sharper. Sam could also smell the individual spices and herbs that had gone into the pickling liquids and conserves. He had a quick taste and shuddered. Goosebumps covered his arms as he tasted the sweet-and-sour balance.

The hints of clove and star anise took the flavor to a whole new level. When Sam ran his fingers along the shelf of fermenting vegetables, every wood grain and crack stood out. Senses heightened. Limber. Certainly more energetic. It was tempting to head out straight away, use his techniques, test the powers of Genesis and Terminus, and push his newly awakened body. Instead, took some time to check on Iris. While digging through the storeroom, he had found kitchen tools and spare clothes.

"Please don't be mad at me," Sam whispered, cutting off her leather vest and the blouse underneath. Much to his relief, he didn't need to do the same to her bra. The spike had found her just right of the belly button. Sam undid her belt and lowered her trousers halfway down her hips before studying the area closely. Iris's body had pushed more of the spike out. The same crystallized blood that formed her javelins and claws coated the wound's edges. Little spikes of it seemed to have actively eaten into the spike.

She was still pale, and dark, ugly veins spread from the wound. The surrounding skin appeared angry and irritated.

"I'd pull it out if I knew how your talent worked, but I get the feeling you wouldn't heal fast enough," Sam spoke more to himself than to her as he carefully poured what smelled like homemade vodka around the wound. Gentle dabs helped clean the area. No other wounds showed, or her talent had already fixed them while she slept.

"I get the feeling you have to actively be hurting something or taking in blood to fix yourself. If I kill things and get you blood, will it work? Or do you have to kill them yourself?" Of course, there was no answer. However, talking as he worked helped Sam deal with the awkwardness. He didn't have any issues with nudity, and he had provided first aid to female Scavengers and academy staff before. But Iris was an old friend, one he had once hoped would become more. History complicated things.

Once Sam was satisfied with the cleaning, he prepared a proper bed for Iris. Sacks of grain served as the mattress. He used old sheets and tarps. Sam carefully laid her on top, then covered her upper half with the cleanest of the blankets. Even though he didn't feel any stronger, it was significantly easier to take apart the barricade at the exit. It was just after dawn when he welcomed the early morning of Level Four. The sky had a yellowish-green hue.

The miasma painted the sky in varying shades of the rainbow, starting at red at Level One. Level Two was orange. Yellow dominated the skies of Level Three. Now, Level Four was Green. The sky confirmed Sam's suspicions that they were between two floors of the Abyss. Tracks around the old office compound told me wildlife had passed through it the night before. Much to his relief, none appeared to have settled within the walls.

He couldn't be sure about higher in the office buildings since several windows were broken and the boards covering them had fallen apart. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

"Oros," Sam said.

"Care to join me? The familiar slithered out of his sleeve, down his leg and to the ground. She was longer than the day before, and the greens of her scales were brighter.

"Do you need an audience for your testing?" Oros asked, broadcasting her words directly into his mind.

"No. I need to secure this place first. Can you please check the perimeter and the lower floors? See if there are any hostiles around."

"You don't have to speak aloud. Just think at me. We're telepathically bonded. It's not as deep as in the soulspace, but you can send your thoughts at me."

"It'll take me a while to get used to that. This is far less intrusive. Get scouting." Sam turned his attention to the damaged gate and holes in the wall.

"I'll try to do something about these openings." Before the awakening, using Internal Ether Flow was an uncomfortable struggle that Sam had grown accustomed to. His heart and blood vessels weren't built for the purpose, and it didn't take much for him to overexert. His pulse rose to dangerous levels, breathing demanded intense regulation, and his body got much too hot. Now, he no longer needed to draw alien energies into his body.

They were already present, and the technique urged them into motion through brand new spiritual channels. The increase in strength, speed, and reflexes no longer felt marginal. Sam lifted a chunk of wall the size of his torso with such ease that he lost balance for a moment, stumbled, and dropped it on his right foot. The steel tip protected him from injury, but his foot got caught as he fell, causing his ankle and knee to hyperextend.

"Fuck," he winced, landing on his hands and knees.

"What did you do?" Oros asked, sending the words directly into his brain.

"Nothing. Just a little bump. I'll be fine."

"Terminus. Use it."

"But I need these chunks. What's the point in destroying—""Genesis will reverse the wall's time to a time before it was damaged," Oros interrupted. Even though the familiar didn't say it, Sam could feel her thinking he was stupid. He couldn't help but feel amused. They were both new and discovering each other's worlds. It wasn't laugh-out-loud funny, but it still tickled him. They were entities from two different worlds trying to understand and figure out one another.

The scholar in him struggled to contain his intrigue and excitement. The images Oros had shared filled him with curiosity and the eagerness to learn and figure out more. At first, Sam attempted to channel Terminus directly into the stone, locking his foot in place. The sudden rush of energy flowing down his arm gave him pause. It was more than he was willing to spare—over half of his full stores. He had never had so much energy to spare, and he had no idea how he would use it.

The day had just started, and no one knew what awaited them. Sam needed to conserve his strength. Instead, he drew from the second vessel in his soulspace, using the technique imprinted into it. Pulsing Palm drew and consumed an eighth of the energy in his stores, giving it purpose as it flowed through his arm. The technique compressed the ether into a tight sphere, turning it black with Terminus's power. Of course. Techniques and spells give the ether purpose instead of just relying on my will. Efficient.

Controlled. The black sphere flowed through his palm into the giant chunk. Each pulse sent dark waves through the material. It cracked, breaking into half a dozen chunks, which crumbled into smaller pieces, and a handful around his palm turned to dust. Terminus's effects lasted only a couple of seconds, but it was enough to free his foot and inflict enough damage to the chunk of brick and concrete. Not bad. Eight back-to-back is certainly not something to scoff at.

Might not straight up kill something on this level, but do I really need to? The next Pulsing Palm struck a cart-sized hole in the wall. Instead of Terminus, Sam sent Genesis through the technique. The regeneration occurred in waves. Grime, gore, and cracks went first. Then the bricks regrew, and concrete wrapped around them. Plaster and paint blossomed from the point of contact, covering bare brick, and then the traces of time and elements faded.

It didn't look as good as new once the effects of the technique faded, but it was a handful of months newer than the rest of the wall.