Chapter 25: Getting food
[You have slain Aurora mutants (Mortal, Stage 3) x1. Your legend raises slightly]
As soon as the Aurora mutant died Samuel received the kill notification. Samuel was shocked by the ease with which he killed the monster. "That was surprisingly easy," Samuel said as he wiped the blood off his face. "It's only logical that this was the outcome. The axe in your hand is particularly strong and your decent skill in using it helped you end the fight fast. I was a bit worried that you might not perform well in proper combat. But you maintained your calm and didn't let fear dull your skills." Sai said.
"Yeah, but it still feels a bit underwhelming. I was expecting…more" Samuel said not knowing whether he should be happy with this or not." The Aurora mutant was a mortal stage 3 creature which meant that it was at least 4 times stronger than a human. This was an estimate given by Sai after a bit of investigation.
"It's a mindless beast that only attacks recklessly. You are already twice as strong as a normal human. Plus you martial skills and the weapon in your hand. It was only logical that you would win." Sai said like it was common knowledge. Samuel heard her explanation and knew she was right. But that made him realize something else. "Even with my combat skills. If I had no weapon on me my chances of beating this mutant would have been very slim." Samuel said
"Yes, that is true. So it would be best to always have a weapon ready for battle" Sai added. Samuel nodded and glanced at the 2 handed axe in his hand. This axe is currently the 3rd most powerful weapon in his arsenal.
[Inspection Successful:
Great Steal Axe- this is a uniquely created axe. It is incredibly sturdy and capable of cutting through most things in the mortal rank.
Rank: Mortal (High quality)]
His inspection skill's description was lackluster in comparison to how well the axe performed. This made Samuel realize that his inspection skill was very limited in the amount of information it could give him. The only other weapons Samuel had stronger than this axe was a sledgehammer and a hunting knife.
The hardware store had a hunting section. Although most of the items sold there were already gone. There were still a few useful items left. Especially the knives. Samuel stored the axe back into his Myth zone as he bent down to check on the Aurora mutant's body. Floating right above the body was a crystal. It radiated in Mythos energy so pure that Samuel couldn't ignore it even if he wanted.
The crystal was about the size of a baby's hand. It is golden with silver-coloured stars inside it. The only word that came to mind when Samuel saw it was "beautiful". This was a legend crystal. The federation didn't know how they were created. All they knew about it was that when a legend dies this crystal comes out from their body. Currently, people in the federation only knew it had two functions.
The first was that it could be absorbed by a Karna user. The user can either increase their Mythos capacity or that of their Karna. The second function is that it can be equipped to a karna. When a person finds a compatible legend crystal, they can equip it to their karna. A compatible legend crystal can be detected when a Karna user feels a strong desire to absorb it from their Karna.
Depending on the type of legend crystal equipped the user can gain various abilities. Samuel grabbed the legend crystal and proceeded to will his Karna to absorb it. Right now what Samuel needed was to increase the mythos capacity of his Karna. The more mythos it had the more items he could fuse with "Legends Forge". And obviously, he would also be able to use his enhanced perception for longer.
This crystal wasn't compatible with him so he didn't have to think much. Finding a compatible legend crystal is incredibly hard. The legend crystal in his hand began to release streams of energy that were quickly absorbed by his Karna. After a few seconds, the crystal vanished. Samuel felt that the increase wasn't much but every bit counted. He used Inspection and saw that his Karnas mythos capacity had increased by 10 units.
"Let's keep going. We have to make it back before it gets dark. Most monsters in Nexus get very active during night time" Sai said. Samuel didn't argue and followed the drone's lead. The Sun was high in the sky and by its position, Sai predicted that the only had 6 hours of daylight left. Samuel traveled at a steady pace. Sam paid attention to his surroundings and avoided groups of Aurora mutants. If he met a lone mutant he would kill it. But if it was in a group he would avoid it.
He didn't need to tire himself out. After 30 minutes of walking, he found himself at his destination. Along the way, he had killed 3 more Aurora mutants and increased his Karna's Mythos capacity. The supermarket in front of him was decently large. From Sai's scouting the place was mostly quiet with only a few Aurora Beasts here and there. Most of the goods were already taken but there was still a good amount of food products left.
From Samuel's current position, he could sense 5 Aurora Beasts in the store. They were all at the 3rd stage so nothing he couldn't handle. The task was done quickly and without any problems. The Aurora mutants were taken out one by one. Thanks to Sai's holograms, killing them was easy. Sai would distract them with a hologram and Samuel would sneak attack them. Another 30 minutes later Samuel was on his way towards another store.
A few hours later Samuel was on his way back to base. His bags were full of supplies and a proud smile was plastered on his face. The journey back to the building where he left Thorez was uneventful. With his hands full he couldn't fight. So he avoided the Aurora mutants and reached the building with no stress.
…
Thorez was resting on a bed. His recovery was going smoothly and he would soon be reunited with his teammates. He could move his limbs around decently. But it would still take a few hours for him to return to peak condition. He then heard a sound coming from the apartment's entrance. Thorez summoned his karma.
The only person he was expecting was that human. But if anything else were to come through his room door Thorez wouldn't hesitate to blow their head open. Just as he expected the door to his room was soon opened as Samuel walked in with a beaming smile on his face. "Broshin check at what I got. Most of them are canned foods but some are really good. I might have eaten some of the way back." Samuel said.
Thorez's brow twitched as he heard Samuel. "Who are you calling Broshin? What kind of name is that" Thorez said with irritation. Samuel's smile grew wider as he answered " Since I don't know your name I thought of Broshin. You are a guy so you are a bro and you are a Vashin. So I mixed the two and there you have it Broshin."
Thorez felt like he was about to have a headache. Although he told Samuel to call him whatever he wanted. The name Broshin was just too childish "Are all humans as annoying as you are? You know what…Just give me the food," Thorez said as he stretched his arm out. He feared that if he told Samuel to change it he might come up with something worse.
Samuel handed him half of his supplies. The two then stayed in the room as they ate their food in silence. The Darkness of night covered the city soon after. Both Samuel and Thorez went to make their final preparations for their inevitable departures. The night passed with the roars of unknown creatures in the night. Sai was correct in assuming that the Aurora mutants would get especially active at night.
…
The sun began to rise over the horizon. A new day began as two young men were parting ways. Samuel and Thorez were facing each other outside the building they had used as their base. Samuel was now dressed differently. With a simple T-shirt, a hoody and some pants. His new clothing was more appropriate for the type of journey he would embark on.
Thorez on the other hand wore his combat armor. Although it was damaged slightly. It was better the what Samuel was wearing. "I guess this is it," Samuel said. "Yes, it is," Thorez replied. "We are going to miss you once you're gone. It was honestly nice having someone else to talk to apart from Sai" Samuel said with a smile.
"Hey!" Sai said as her drone bumped into Samuel's head. Seeing these guys who had accompanied him for the past day. Thorez didn't know how to feel about them "Don't exaggerate human. We barely know each other" Thorez said as he turned to leave.
"See you later Broshin. Don't die out there" Samuel said as he also turned to leave. Samuel suddenly paused as Thorez's voice reached his ears. "thank you, humans. Our time together was short but not completely unpleasant." Thorez said as his figure sped off into the distance.
Samuel could only smile as he kept walking. "It is quite surprising how effective your plan to gain his trust was," Sai said. Samuel smiled as he replied "I'm a nice dude what can I say? But even that doesn't mean I'm dumb. In a traditional enemies-to-friends story. The characters need to go through an impactful experience together. Although our time with him was short it's not over. We will meet up very soon"
Sai could only stare at Samuel with surprise as she said "So the map you made me give him. Was it necessary to make him go through a route that he wouldn't be able to finish? There's a powerful monster on that side of the city. The Vashin could die if things go wrong." Samuel kept his calm and said
"You know that's a lie. He is strong and won't die because of the monsters in that direction. We just need his journey to be stalled so that we can come and save him when the time is right. What kind of 'enemy to friends ' story ends just like this? Nah we aren't done with him. He'll be seeing us sooner than expected."
Thorez who was traveling through the city felt a shiver run up his spine. "What was that?" He said. He paused and looked around him trying to find the source of this uneasy feeling. After a few seconds, he ignored it and went on his way. Little did the poor Vashin know that his journey was all planned out by Samuel and he wouldn't be reuniting with his comrades anytime soon.
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