Chương 47: Chapter Forty-Seven: Walk in the Woods

FORTY-SEVEN It was of course Taoya who was chosen to lead the expeditionary teams to find something in the forest. With his bloodline talent and natural strength, he was the strongest of everyone left in the camp. Roan went with him as his pattern while seven other duos were figured out. Darren broke them off into rough forty-five degree angles and sent the fourteen of them off. It left about ten healthy fighters for the camp, but a duo was safer than single scouts.

Taoya had picked who would go, trying to ensure there was at least one person with a bloodline per group, but they lacked the numbers to truly do it. Darren went as well, leaving his depleted supplies with the wounded and partnering up with someone from a different instance. Harris was the last bloodline fighter left at camp. Roan didn't know what it was that his bloodline enabled him for, but Darren had said he was a good defensive specialist.

That had been enough to quell any unrest and then they were all moving out. They'd move as close as they could in a straight line, leaving marks every hundred feet of their duo number, until they found something. If they didn't find anything by the time night set they were to camp and then make their way back in the morning. With the sun slowly setting Roan thought that this level had longer days than back home.

Without a proper tool to measure time he had to rely on guesses and fighting had a way of making time hard to guess. Darren said it had been about three hours, but Roan wasn't sure.

"Saw that the unique learn skill was gone. That you?" Taoya asked conversationally as they walked. They'd hardly cleared the line of sight for the camp before he started talking.

"Why?" Roan asked.

"Conversation, man. Why you acting like we're enemies? You fucked off after the clear and then didn't show up again," Taoya said. Roan blinked up at the big man and blinked as he realized what was going on.

"You're actually hurt I didn't stay with you?" Roan asked.

"Of course. We're battle brothers now. We've fought, bled, and killed side-by-side. And then you just go and disappear? It felt insulting," Taoya said.

"Met some people who needed my help," Roan said. They fell into an uncomfortable silence that only became more uncomfortable as time went on.

"Sorry," Roan finally said.

"Thanks. I don't trust Darren. I mean I do, but I trust him to be Darren, you know? He has his goals and that's all he's focused on. And I get that, I do. It's an important goal. But sometimes I think he forgets to see the people around him as people and not tools."" Holy shit, this is way too deep for me right now." Roan panicked lifted his canteen and offered it to Taoya who took it with a smile.

"I saw this little beauty on the market place. Was thinking about getting it, but didn't make the choice in time. Seemed expensive for what it was. I guess I was wrong," Taoya said. He had the politeness not to continue the awkward speech he'd been going on about.

"What did you get?" Roan asked. Of everyone in their instance it would be Taoya who would be the only one who could match his earnings.

"Mana core. A few manuals, some food. Lots of food. Healing supplies," Taoya said with a shrug.

"You have a mana core?" Roan said, feeling his heart sink. He already couldn't get up with the giant, if the man managed to have a mana core he would never catch and surpass him. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"Inferior-grade. It's nice to be able to use my bloodline without exhausting my body, but the core is shit. I'll have to work on upgrading it once I find the proper body tempering manual," Taoya said, continuing to be an open book.

"You need a proper one because of your bloodline?" Roan guessed. They'd passed the site of three battles and left the dead goblins where they were. Only one climber was there and he'd already been stripped of his gear.

"Yeah. The amount of power I store in my body can be problematic the stronger we grow. Had an older cousin who blew himself up once," Taoya confided.

"That doesn't sound pleasant," Roan said and Taoya laughed and nodded.

"Never liked her. Had her nose in the air and talked about our blood superiority all the time. She tried to absorb an enhanced blow during a tournament. Jun bloodline, they pack on muscle like you can't believe. Hyper dense, stronger than anyone has a right to be. Anyway she stopped the punch dead in its tracks. Then she blew up. Well, an arm blew off. She's still alive. Doesn't talk about our superiority quite so much," Taoya said.

"So? Did you get it?" Taoya said after a moment of silence. Roan sighed but nodded. It was weird to be the shorter man for once. It wasn't something that happened often and he wasn't sure he liked the feeling.

"Cool, then here," Taoya reached into his pockets and pulled out a pair of manuals.

"What are you doing?" Roan asked as he took the books carefully.

"You're my friend. You've been an asset this entire climb. I want to help you out," Taoya said.

"You know the learn skill doesn't make me instantly learn these, right? I need to study and read them, finish their requirement before I unlock the ability," Roan said. He still hadn't looked at the two books, but he was dying to crack them open and look through them.

"I figured. I'm not giving them to you, but figured you could read and learn them and help me out with it. The bonus we got on this level was nice, I should be able to buy a skill or two straight up and that'll be plenty for now. In the meantime we keep working with each other and helping each other, right?" Taoya asked.

"Yeah. Thank you, Taoya. This…this means a lot," Roan said as he patted the covers of the book.

"Oh, you look uncomfortable by generosity. Here, I'm doing this to keep you in my personal orbit to make you feel indebted to me. Does that make you feel better? That I get something from this?" Taoya asked.

"It does," Roan said honestly.

"Good. You're similar in some ways to Darren. Not quite as mechanical though. I blame his bloodline. He sees and understands too much too young. It makes one jaded."

"You've known him a long time?"

"Oh yeah. Sects like ours are very communal. We all know each other at a young age," Taoya said.

"How do they work? I don't get too much news out in the wasteland," Roan said.

"Each is different. Ours isn't very strong, there's not enough prime bloodlines to amplify it. Most though have a central or prime bloodline. One with powerful abilities," Taoya began.

"Like yours or Tyler's?"

"Yeah. There are ancillary bloodlines around them that specialize in ways of helping the prime bloodline heirs. They all learn similar fighting styles and how to work with each other. Covering up each other's weaknesses. Some sects have multiple prime bloodlines, but ours doesn't," Taoya explained.

"So, Darren is supposed to support you. But it seems he's in charge?" Roan asked.

"Because he is. It's his plan, or well, he helped develop it. The guy who actually built the plan and developed the Pact didn't make it into the tower. Inter-sect politics," Taoya explained.

"And you're fine with that. Having someone tell you what to do and how to do it? Someone weaker than yourself?" Taoya laughed.

"We're never free, Roan. No matter how strong you are there's something stronger out there. Just look at these towers. At the heart of them are the Tower Masters and they are undisputed demi-gods. No one has ever killed one… aside from that incident in Cairo, but that Tower Master isn't dead. Just broken. And whatever ordered them to fly across the stars or through the multiverse or wherever they're from must be even stronger," Taoya said.

Roan noticed that Taoya hadn't actually said he was fine with taking orders though.