章 24: Hunger
In the most devastating fight she had ever seen, Mei Hui, a young girl student with black hair and black eyes who possessed a plant-based ability.
Since her ability was non-lethal, she only duelled once to catch her opponent off guard with her special vines by simply dragging them off the stage - it worked but she couldn't afford to use the same trick again, hence, she remained in the second hundred ranking while training without miss every single day.
But, a week after she was accepted into the academy, a particular student initiated the first duel for the session, and won, earning a name for himself.
With an enhancement ability - strength, accompanied by what the other students called great luck, he rose quickly to the second fifty ranking from the third hundred, and it seemed like his luck rubbed off on his companions, too, since they never lost a fight.
Therefore, Mei Hui decided to join this acclaimed group of 'luckies'.
After a long search, she finally found the Lucky One, or at least him alone without the rest of the group.
The Lucky One stood with another student, and Mei Hui watched from a small distance, her vines serving as her eyes, however, the short conversation quickly turned into a full-fledged fight.
She couldn't report the fight since both parties seemed to have consented before they began their mini destruction, yet, the simple duel-like combat soon caused pieces of tree shards to fly all over, and the ground beneath their feet caved in.
Hidden a few miles away from the catastrophic fight, the sound of fighting soon ceased and Mei Hui ran back to where the fight had taken place.
The destroyed patch of land was dyed red with blood. Two bodies laid unconscious on the ground; one simply unconscious, and the other, bloodied.
Mei Hui moved to the body which she recognized, his finger moved ever so slightly, so she quickened her pace and knelt before his bloody body. Blood continuously drained out of his body from the bloody gash on his shoulder and the stab wound in his chest.
Mei Hui's breath hitched as she placed her hands on the wound on Jesse's chest. The young healer had never seen this much blood before nor has she healed a wound of this kind. Three days ago when she healed the Lucky One, he only had bruises and bite marks, hence, Mei Hui couldn't help but wonder how strong his opponent was.
Tiny vines integrated from her fingers into Jesse's body through his open wound. The vines, with different shades of green disappeared into Jesse's body, and she muttered, "Dissolve."
Her head ached from how much power she used, but she continued nevertheless until the injuries were all completely healed and all that was left of them were the torn bloody clothes that proved the ordeal he just went through.
Mei Hui's world spun as she picked herself up and walked to the unconscious body to heal him with whatever little strength she had left.
-Grr!
She paused in her tracks at the sound of a low beastly groan, however, she continued on towards the unconscious person.
-Grr!
This time even louder, Mei Hui turned around to the sound.
The young boy she had just healed, with a tattered uniform and an uncanny appearance on his face, he stood gallantly just like every healthy person, but his eyes had turned foggy with dim red pupils. As he heaved, his mouth remained open due to the long sharp razor teeth that filled his mouth.
Scared to the bone by the sight she had only seen in textbooks, Mei Hui stumbled to the ground and inched away with her hands.
The eyes, though foggy remained set on her.
"J-Jesse?"
Right, that was his name. Hence, she called out his name in hope that he would snap out of it.
The Lucky One couldn't probably be an infected, maybe, just maybe he had a morph ability. Mei Hui desperately tried to convince herself.
As she crawled backwards, her hand pressed on something soft inside a nylon bag; rice buns that her father had given her to share with her non-existent friends.
The Lucky One, however, bared his fangs at the sound of the nylon bag crumpling under her hand.
Without warning, he bolted towards her, his speed unlike anything she'd ever seen. And in an equal attempt to save her life, she grabbed whatever her hand brushed against and stuffed it into the razor-sharp, teeth-filled mouth that aimed for her neck.
He clenched his teeth and the nylon bag tore, spilling squashed rice-bun into his mouth.
Jesse paused, his foggy eyes concentrated for a millisecond before he bolted off.
Mei Hui touched her chest, feeling her pounding heart against her fingers as she watched his silhouette disappear.
"What the-" She murmured underneath her breath and fell limply on the ground.
-----------
Jesse watched his health point drain away and his life line flickering like a flame in the wind.
His perception, though, distorted - he could still hear the sound of dried leaves being being crushed under a person's feet.
However, except the pain that plagued his mind, an unimaginable kind of hunger filled him.
[HP - 2/300]
'Argh! Dammit, I don't want to die like this.' He clenched his fist. His attempt only resulting in his finger twitching.
[HP - 1/300]
'Is this where it all ends?'
When hope was almost lost, he felt a cool sensation in his chest.
[HP - 5\300]
The cool feeling poured in continuously, until;
[HP - 200/300]
The pain he felt had completely disappeared, now all that was left was the intense hunger that grew as there was no longer pain to keep him rational.
Stuck in the dark world created by his consciousness, Jesse could feel his body move on it's own, attracted to a peculiar scent. One that smelt of spice and blood. His rationality slowly seeped away as his vision clouded.
[Steel Mentality is being implemented.]
[Steel Mentality has failed.]
[Steel Mentality is being implemented.]
[Steel Mentality has failed.]
Driven by insuppressible hunger, Jesse felt whatever was left of his consciousness being sucked out by a hungry void.
He dashed towards the alluring scent, however, as soon as he was about to take a bite, something was stuffed into his mouth and the content spilled into his mouth. It was terrible. It tasted nothing like what he perceived, but it tasted familiar, the pasty soap-like taste.
[Steel Mentality has been implemented.]
The murky clouds cleared for a split second as the system managed to suppress his hunger. The familiar girl came in sight and Jesse jumped off her, his body lunged towards the other unconscious person, however, with the little control he had, he pulled away and ran deeper into the forest.
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