Chapter 24: Ch64. Same fight
The battle wasn’t long or fierce.
On the contrary, actually. It looked like the draconic figures knew all too well how to deal with those unimaginable monsters.
And a few minutes later, all that was left were the lifeless bodies of the sand Worms that appeared after the first group, and the mother. Dead but still squirming around.
Octavius and his team looked at their unexpected saviours, without knowing what to say or how to react.
"Who... Are you guys?" Octavius asked, slightly bowing his head in respect and gratitude.
"We are the Ishir, people from the planet Isariah." One of them, seemingly the leader of the group, responded. "I suppose you came here across the Gate, yes?"
Octavius scratched his head.
"You mean the bubble from the distortion entry of the Nest?"
The draconic figures exchanged glances, chuckling.
"What? Did we say something funny?"
The leader looked at them with a mix of sympathy and contempt.
"No, it’s just that you’re just as the Commander told us you would be. A bit naive but very creative with names." And he himself chuckled.
Octavius scratched his head again but said nothing about that matter, he just extended his hand and said.
"I’m Octavius Blake, and these are-"
"The Guardian guild, I read a lot about you in the history books. I’m Yisal, leader of this scouting group. It’s a pleasure to meet you, though I imagined we’d meet only a few years from now..."
"What do you-" Octavius tried to ask but was interrupted mid sentence.
"You’ll understand everything once you meet our Commander. He’s eager to see you all."
Octavius hesitated for a second, for the first time in years, but after careful consideration, he chose to accompany the Ishir, Yisal, to their camp.
He just wasn’t expecting their camp to be an entire city...
When they arrived, a little after the suns had set on the horizon, it was a lot for Octavius to take.
The entire city looked like it was made of glass, with towers like spears trying to reach and pierce the skies.
"Woah!" Xander sighed. "It’s breathtaking..."
The others’ reaction was almost the same, looking around as though they were, literally, in an alien planet.
They walked a bit longer and arrived at a structure that looked like a small castle made out of a myriad of glass towers, with the tallest one in the middle.
Like a finger pointed towards the sky.
The Beast-like group stopped.
"The Commander wishes to meet you in person."
Octavius nodded and led his group through the entrance, saying goodbye and thanking them again for saving their lives, and moved forward, wondering what could be inside that castle of glass, that even those strong warriors dared not to walk in.
***
Kurt looked at the claws reaching to his face, still a bit groggy.
It was hard to understand if he was dreaming, if he was finally awake or if he he was in another, unknown partition of the system.
And since his last experience with it wasn’t so pleasing, upon watching the five claws one second from ripping his face off, his body acted on its own accord.
It was as if Kurt’s body was an exploding generator, releasing so much energy all at once, that the draconic Beast was sent flying through the door, back from where it came.
A beep sounded in Kurt’s head, and the pop-up window appeared in front of him.
[NAME: Kurt Blake]
[AGE: 15]
[Level: 01]
[CLASS: ???]
[HP: 105]
[MP: 50]
’My older version said I was going to become a Rogue just like him, but judging by the [MEMORY FRAGMENT], he wasn’t that good of a Rogue, depending too much on his raw strength, speed and mana manipulation. But I’ll do it different in this version of your world... I won’t be like you.’
Kurt saw a scalpel in the bedside table, lying around as if it were waiting for someone to grab it.
He took the instrument and slowly walked through the door.
[BASIC STATS]
[Strength: ??
Dexterity: ??
Agility: ??
Perception: ??
Intelligence: 05
Vigor: 10]
As Kurt looked around, focusing his senses, he felt like the question marks in his basic stat’s window had a meaning.
’I wasn’t supposed to win against that antibody thing, so the system must be a bit bugged. I wonder when I’ll be able to see the entirety of my stats...’
The system wasn’t functioning properly, and for Kurt, it was a good thing.
Since his older version told him that he wasn’t going to be able to use his skills or stats unless he leveled up properly, it would’ve been quite hard to fight whatever seemed to be after him.
But with the system bugged like that, Kurt was able to elevate his senses to an extent he never thought he’d be capable of.
’Left.’
After all that time fighting with his older version, and with his senses so sharp, it became easy to feel where the attack was coming from.
Kurt easily avoided the claws that came towards his side, and as if it were moving in slow motion, Kurt pierced the wrist of the creature with the scalpel.
In a strange lucky strike, the scalpel pierced through not only the creature’s wrist, but it also sounded like glass cracking. And immediately, the creature became visible again.
"A device that can make you invisible?" Kurt asked out loud, eyes wide in surprise.
His eyes glowed with a red light as the scalpel broke, leaving the blade inside the monster’s wrist.
It looked at Kurt’s eyes and said.
"We’ll meet again... Host!"
And it sprinted away, shoving Kurt’s mother against the wall with its arm.
"MOM!" Kurt shouted, watching the monster run away as he sprinted towards his mother.
Nina coughed a mouthful of blood, her eyes were blank, only the whites showing.
"MOM? Mom, wake up, please, please... MEDIC?! I NEED A MEDIC!"
But no one answered Kurt’s desperate cry for help, except for the beep in his head.
[THE SYSTEM HAS BEEN REBOOTED]
[ALL FUNCTIONS ARE BACK TO NORMAL]
"SHUT UP! MEDIC?! I NEED A MEDIC, PLEASE! ANYONE, NURSE? SOMEONE?"
Again, no one responded.
"Kurt..." She tried to call him out.
But with one last bloody cough, Nina ceased to move in Kurt’s arms.
"Mom...?" Kurt felt hot tears washing over his face. "Mom..."
But his expression slowly went from utter despair to quiet rage.
"Yeah... We’ll meet again, you bastard... I WILL BECOME STRONGER AND THEN I’LL HUNT YOU DOWN TO THE ENDS OF THE WORLD!"
All that was left were the sounds of Kurt’s cry through the corridors of the hospital, until he finally fell silent, his throat aching for screaming and shouting so much.
All he could do was to glare at the distant hall where the strange Beast had disappeared into.
