Chương 11: Gnomes

CH 11 - Gnomes Maybe I could shrink quickly and escape its grip? No, if I did that, I'd still be stuck fighting this thing, but I'd be small and injured. Maybe I can use my shapeshifting to make another weapon? The grip tightened on Grey. Grey closed his eyes and tried something new. Biting his lip. He channeled all his energy reserves into a powerful attack. Bone Manipulation (E) activated, reshaping his bones with barely a thought. Then, fine-tipped bone spears erupted from his body at all angles.

Closing his eyes, he launched his attack. He felt his skin rip open all over his body. Bone spears violently shot outwards and into the snake's thick skin. A terrifying shriek accompanied the bloody ripping sound of bone pikes piercing flesh. The energy required for the attack took everything out of him. This was his final, desperate attack. The snake immediately recoiled as ten sharp bone spears stabbed through its stomach into various points all around it. The spears dug deep into the monster's flesh.

Grey didn't let up, extending them further and further to pierce vital organs. It tried uncoiling itself but found it still stuck to Grey. Almost like a giant porcupine, and the snake was caught up in his spines. Grey detached the bone spears from his body and left them inside the snake. The snake, finally free from Grey, uncoiled itself and writhed around. Grey slammed to the floor, letting out another mouthful of blood.

He had seriously hurt himself with that attack, and he felt his energy nearly completely drained. His newly hardened bones felt much less dense than before. Pulling his Lunar Cherry from his inventory pouch, he crunched into it. He didn't expect a pit, and for some reason felt compelled to keep it rather than swallow. The magical energy of the fruit was quickly absorbed by his Mana Stomach and flowed through his Mana Heart.

It wasn't long before a tremendous burst of energy flooded through his body, and his (Cellular Regeneration) ability got to work. It worked fast enough for Grey to get to his feet and move a distance away from the snake to avoid the beast's violent squirming. After a few minutes of flailing about, the snake stopped with a final cry of defeat. You have slain Giant Anaconda (lvl. 7): +8 exp.

(Quest) Defeat Giant Anaconda Status: complete Grade: B Reward: +8exp, 250 Wishing Coins, Space Sardines (E), Settlement Orb (E) Grey had leveled up from the fight and reached level 7. An orb with a milky color within appeared as the reward. Beside it, a can of sardines appeared. The can had a nutrition fact that included a magic content. Grey stashed them away, yet unaware of the Settlement Orb's value.

Name: Grey Falsen Level: 7 [1/10] Race: Magic Human (E) Class: n/a Abilities: Shapeshifting (F), Bone Manipulation (E), Blood Manipulation (E) Passive: Mana Heart (E), Mana Stomach (E), Regenerative Cells (F) Skills: Predator's Stare (F) STR: 10 DEX: 9 END: 14 WIS: 10 INT: 24 LUCK: 10 Titles: Beginnings of Aura, Noticed, Manaborn Free stat points: 8 INT had been great to him so far, but that last fight was too close for comfort. His bone spike attack had cost him a lot of energy and nearly killed him.

END not only increased his body's durability, but it also had a minor effect on energy storage. He also wished he was faster during the fight; there were a few times he just barely was able to dodge. Overall, he wanted to balance his stats out a bit. He put 3 points into END, 2 into STR and DEX respectively, and 1 point into INT. Famished from the fight, Grey got ready to cut himself a hunk of flesh for dinner.

He was about to leave before he remembered how hard and durable the snake's scales were, and decided to bring some skin with him too. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Maybe I could grow scales like these? A thin layer of scales this durable would essentially work as armor. Not having much energy left, Grey put that idea in the back of his mind and continued. I wish I had bought a book on monster skinning. Grey did an awful job of getting the skin off.

He didn't know what he was doing, so he just hacked at the sinews holding it to the snake's body until a long strip of it came off. Grey reached out to his bone spears embedded in the stomach of the snake. He touched them and willed for them to return to his body. Energy flooded back into him, refilling him of previous lost mana stores. Does this mean I could reattach a dismembered arm or leg? He hoped so, but wasn't up for any experimentation.

When he was finally done, he broke off the beast's two front fangs and started a fire to cook up some food. By the time the snake was cooked and ready to eat. Jim had found his way back to him with Kenny in tow.

"You killed that thing all by yourself? You have to be really strong." Kenny said between bites of snake meat.

"Yeah, but that thing almost killed me." Grey said. The group sat in silence until Grey took an obnoxious bite. The seasonings Grey took from Mrs. Jensen made the snake palatable, but it had quite an oily flavor.

"Guess I'm pretty strong. I'm surprising even myself." Grey said, helping himself to more meat. Nearby, birds and smaller animals watched their dinner with greedy eyes. However, Grey's feat of strength would keep them all at bay for now. The group moved on after eating, finding a quiet office space to rest.

"So far, we've been heading south. I say we keep going, and maybe even go east a bit." Jim offered, drawing a map in the dirt with a stick. Grey thought about the layout of the cities, and they shouldn't be too far from a forested area. Soon, they should be out of downtown Minneapolis. Grey looked at Kenny, curled up defensively beneath an office desk. The teenage kid was passed out, clearly shaken up by whatever events left him alone when the integration hit. Grey laid back and closed his eyes.

Jim had decided on taking the first watch. In a few hours, it would be his turn. For now, he could get some much needed rest. In the dim hours before the sun truly has risen, Grey sat besides the smoldering embers they lit the night before. Luckily, the season was still warm, since all the power and gas systems are down now. Kenny woke first, and Grey let Jim get some extra sleep while he prepared some food for breakfast. In a pot above a small fire, a soup of instant potatoes and snake meat cooked together.

When the food was cooked, Grey woke up Jim and they dug in.

"Grey this is nasty. I'm tired of eating snake meat." Jim said. Grey looked at the plate. Nothing wrong with it. The flavor was a bit oily, but one couldn't be picky in the apocalypse.

"I'll just eat your portion then." Grey moved to spear a piece of snake off Jim's plate with his fork. His assault was stopped elegantly by Jim's fork in an impressive parry. The two sparred for a while, with Grey snagging the bite at the end. After breakfast, the group continued their travels. Mostly, they avoided busy streets or extended time in the open. Their scare with the giant crow taught them that stealth from the skies was the safest decision for now.

As they passed between alleys and buildings, moving further from Grey's apartment, they continued to come across the corpses of dead monsters and humans. Seeing dead people was hard at first, but the more they came across, the more Grey became used to seeing it, and THAT is what bothered him. Occasionally they would come across a monster; but quick flares of aura scared them off. Jim wanted to fight, but Grey insisted on making more progress getting out of the city.

We need to find somewhere safe to cultivate our new powers. Kenny flew beside Jim, chatting about life before the system integration. They were smiling, enjoying themselves. So far, Grey had made two new friends in such a short time. He felt grateful. Before his wish, he didn't have friends. Sure, he would talk to Jim once in a while, but that was about it. Kenny flew in reverse to fly beside Grey. A big cheesy smile plastered his face as he spoke, "Hey Grey! Jim says before the integration you were a total nerd."

The joke hurt at first, because it was true. Kenny was just a teenager, and he didn't mean anything by it. Grey looked up to answer Kenny and watched as his cheesy smile snapped to fear. Kenny clutched at his stomach, where a pool of blood quickly formed through his shirt. Grey turned, punching out with his fist and knocking away the sneak attacker. He had been hiding behind a dumpster, and had stabbed Kenny from behind. Grey looked at the offender, and he recognized him.

It was the drug addicted bum who broke into his apartment! He looked like the same person, but his eyes were empty. Emptier than the last time Grey saw him; and his unkempt, violent appearance made him look more demonic than human now.

"DIE!" Grey shouted, growing a bone katana from his palm. Kenny fell from the sky in a awful crash, and Grey sliced out with his sword at once. Grey's strike missed, only managing to graze Kenny's attacker. The crazed bum turned without hesitation and dashed away from the scene. What? Why did he even attack us if he's just going to run? Grey moved to run after him, but hesitated. He looked back at Kenny on the floor, bleeding from his abdomen. He needs medical assistance, now!

Suddenly, from the wall of the alleyway, reality distorted. As if two planes of existence twisted together to open a portal, the dumpster where the bum hid opened into a portal. From it appeared a group of small gnome-like creatures. It was scary seeing them appear, but Grey could actually recognize them. I've actually seen these guys before. Two gnomes ran to Kenny and rolled him over. They waved their crystalized hands over his stab wound before hoisting them onto their backs and through the portal.

"Hey! Wait! Where are you taking him!?" Grey yelled, reaching for the portal. These creatures were psychedelic gnomes. Mystical entities found within the minds of those who partake in psychedelics. Grey was familiar because of his own experiences, but he never expected to see one while he was sober. I guess somebody wished for them to materialize? Or were they always real? Considering his personal experiences, probably the latter.

"I think they're friendly?" Grey said. Without a word, more gnomes ran past Jim and Grey, chasing the bum who stabbed Kenny. By now, the bum had made some space between himself and his pursuers, but the small gnomes moved at speeds unrealistic for their size. Everything about them was supernatural: crystalized blurred skin that challenged what was real and not, the ability to summon mysterious portals to unknown places, and a speed that signified their potential strength in combat.

"I don't really wanna mess with them." Grey said. Jim looked sat the wall that Kenny disappeared through.

"What about Kenny though?" Grey stared for a moment.

"I feel like he's not dead. The gnomes seem to have special abilities."

"Yeah, but he's just a kid," Jim answered.

"I know, but he's not my kid… And there's nothing we can do! Even if we chased down the gnomes, what are we going to say? You saw how they just jump through portals." Grey said. His tone wavered with frustration.

"I think he's alive. Let's wait here and see if the gnomes bring him back." Grey said. The gnomes never returned, and neither with Kenny. Jim and Grey sat beside the wall for hours, hoping for a sign of life, but alas, there was nothing for them.

"This is fucked." Jim said, sighing.

"It is, but we have to go." Without any other way to help, the two decided to move on, hoping the best for the young teen. Unfortunately for Kenny, a stab wound is not the biggest danger in the gnomes' psychedelic dimension.