Chương 42: Ch 42:- A Beastly Encounter
As Rayne continued to observe Selene from above a rooftop, he noticed how much coordination there was in her team. The teamwork they were displaying was incredible; every move of their team was planned as if they were working as a single unit, like that of an ant. This allowed them to collect beast crystals at a very fast pace. Most of them were high-level ability users, and he knew most of them except for only three individuals. There was a guy wearing weird glasses with a glint to it, and he was the only one not participating. Then there was a cute-looking girl with pink hair and an ability that let her grow plants almost instantaneously, which was probably an original ability as he didn't know about it. Lastly, there was this guy who didn't have anything interesting about him other than being a strong telekinetic user. He was able to lift sand and use them as a barrier while using his swordsmanship and also using his telekinetic ability like that of the Force, performing moves like force push, pull, and choke. It was like he was a perfect Force user, and if his moves and excitement were anything to go by, he probably learned most of these techniques from watching the Star Wars series. Telekinesis is an ability with the highest plasticity, after all.
As for the rest of the group, he knew most of them. There was Selene, who was clad in a beast armor consisting of a gauntlet and a pair of boots. It looked like a beast armor set, with only the chest piece and leggings missing. She was also using a sword that she was able to use very smoothly, but what caught his eye were her smooth and elegant kicks with which she was obliterating most of the beasts. Then there was Kim his spar partner and a friend, a martial arts master who was only using a pair of gauntlets and his hardening ability for fighting. Lastly, there was Daphne his colleague at a cafe that he works at, who didn't seem to have any armor, and the sword she was using to fight also looked like a borrowed one from the combat class. However, she was able to hold her own thanks to her high-level speed-based ability that boosted her speed.
As Rayne sat atop the roof observing their progress, he noticed something falling from the sky. Unable to see it clearly, he channeled Qi into his eyes and used his rifle scope to increase the clarity of his vision. He saw a black ship, the size of a car and in the shape of an oval pod, falling towards the ground. Seeing it, he thought to himself, "Is that an attack ball from Dragon Ball?" After skimming through his memories, he finally remembered what it was: an attack ship that Dalki uses to send their troops to planets. Remembering the terror they caused, shivers ran down his spine. He finally noticed it crash-landed near an abandoned well and a broken-down building, causing black smoke to rise. But the next moment, he felt his heart almost stop as he saw the sight in front of him. Not far from the attack pod, about 15 or 20 minutes away, there was Peter limping with a group of students running away towards the direction of the ship. If he wasn't wrong, then Peter was probably bleeding right now, but there was no way to confirm that as he was very far away, and the view that he was getting was not HD by any means. At that moment, a dilemma arose. He was given two options: should he stay here and look after Selene, or should he make his way towards Peter to save him? The answer was quite obvious.
"Fuck yes, I choose to save Peter! Who would be sane enough to stay here and protect Selene when she is literally surrounded by strong individuals? On the other hand, Peter is injured and has no one by his side. I need to save him," Rayne exclaimed. At that moment, a system message appeared. [Emergency Quest initiated!]
[Quest: Save Peter
Description: Peter is about to meet his death in the next 52 minutes. Try to avert it somehow.
Reward: Seal for using Soul force
Failure: Death of Peter
Caution: Attempting to complete this quest will anger the Gods of Fates greatly.]
Seeing the quest, Rayne's mind went into hyper-alert. The distance between him and Peter was at least 2 hours away. Even at his max speed, it would take at least 1 hour to reach there, which was just not enough. Without thinking twice, he jumped from the rooftop and began to run at high speed, using his Qi to enhance his legs and activating his boots to get a speed boost. He used Quickening and teleportation kunai to further lessen the distance. He couldn't risk using his blood ability right now because he still didn't know how strong the Dalki were, and during the fight, he may even need to go all out.
Meanwhile, as Rayne made his way towards Peter, Peter was now sitting on the ground and pulled out a little first aid box from his bag. It looked like a small metal briefcase and had a small standard red cross on it. After taking it out, he pressed the red cross, and the little suitcase started to transform into what looked like a little droid.
"How can I be of assistance?" the droid asked.
"I am injured. Scan me and do whatever you can to patch me up," Peter said, groaning from the pain of his wounds.
As Vorden, Erin, and Layla arrived at the well area, they breathed a sigh of relief. They had made it through the treacherous desert safely, thanks to the map they were carrying. It seemed like the beasts in the area were territorial, just like any normal animal. But their relief was short-lived as they saw the rubble from one of the buildings strewn everywhere. And then, Vorden's heart stopped as he saw Peter lying on the ground, badly injured. The first aid box droid was doing its best to patch him up, but it was clear that Peter had been through a lot.
"Peter, what happened?" Layla's voice was filled with concern as she rushed to his side.
"Just a few lackeys from the second year tried to steal our crystal," Peter said weakly. "But I protected it and they only managed to steal a few of them. Don't worry, I'm not using any medication from the first aid box. I just borrowed some antiseptic and asked it to do some stitching."
Vorden's mind raced as he took in the scene. He couldn't help but think back to his own past, where he had seen blood and gore all around him at Blade Island. Peter had a huge gash across his thigh and chest, a rib sticking out, and a broken nose that he still hadn't fixed. But he pushed those memories aside and focused on Peter. Within a few minutes, the stitching was done and Peter sat up, fixing his nose with a snap that made Vorden cringe.
"You did well, Peter," Vorden said, his voice full of emotion. "Even if you hadn't been able to protect all those crystals, you still would have done well. Because you're my friend, Peter. And I want you to always remember that."
As the words left Vorden's mouth, a dam of emotions broke inside Peter. He had been holding back so much, trying to stay strong through all the training with Rayne. But now, all of those suppressed emotions broke free and he started to cry, tears streaming down his face as he thanked Vorden for forgiving him. Finally, he passed out from exhaustion catching up to him.
As Layla looked at Peter's sleeping form with sympathy, she remembered something. "Guys, where is Quinn? We still haven't seen him yet," Layla said.
"Well, it's not like we can ask Peter what happened," Erin replied as she checked the bag and noticed five of the beast crystals missing. "They probably took him away too along with the crystals."
But for both Vorden and Layla, the situation wasn't adding up. It looked more like Peter alone had defended all the crystals, which would mean only one thing Quinn had vanished away just like his brother Rayne. Truly, they were both alike in many ways. Thinking this, they both sighed. Just then, Vorden spotted a sign of black smoke off in the distance.
"Do you think that's them, probably one of them using their abilities?" said Vorden. "It doesn't look too far away, and we can go get back our crystals."
"But what about Quinn?" Layla replied.
"Why don't we split up?" Vorden suggested. "We can't just leave Peter out here. I'll stay with him in case anything happens. When he's all healed up, we'll go looking for Quinn. You two can go get our crystals back, but if it looks too tough, then fall back and come to the Well. Although I don't think they would be in any condition to fight seeing how roughed up both Peter and the ground are, still keep your guards up."
Layla was hesitant at first, but eventually agreed and went in the direction of the black smoke along with Erin. After some time, as they reached the spot where black smoke was coming from, both of them were terrified to the core with what they saw. Layla was stunned and Erin's legs became wobbly, causing her to fall down as she saw the scene in front of them. There stood a humanoid being with scale-like features running from the side of its body up to the top of its neck. Its eyes were slightly pointed and more oval-shaped, and its hands were shaped like claws with a tail sticking out from its behind. It looked like a weird abomination of dragon and human it was none other than a Dalki.
The Dalki had not only killed the students but had also mutilated their bodies in the most gruesome ways imaginable. Limbs were scattered haphazardly around, some still twitching as the last vestiges of life left their bodies. Guts and innards spilled out onto the sandy ground of the desert, creating a horrific scene of blood and gore that made Layla and Erin want to vomit. Layla could hardly believe her eyes as she saw one of the students' heads held in the Dalki's hand, the spine still dangling from it like some grotesque trophy. The student's face was twisted in a grimace of pain and terror, frozen forever in that moment of death. As Layla stared in horror, she saw that the Dalki was not content with just one victim. The creature had killed several other students, all of them lying around in various states of dismemberment and mutilation. It brought back bad memories for Erin of when her parents were killed as they fought with one of these creatures. Erin couldn't hold it in any longer and vomited as the smell of the carnage became too much to bear, emptying the contents of her stomach on the ground.
At that moment, Layla, who was stunned silent, could only mutter a few words "Run." Deep breath. "Run, Erin, run! If you want to live, then RUN!" Hearing this brought Erin back to reality, but it also caused the tall Dalki to turn their way and throw the head in their direction. Erin reflexively caught it, causing blood to spew all over her face before dropping it on the floor and then sitting down and screaming, "Mommy, please save me," as she started to cry.
"Oh? Is that another two I see?" The Dalki said with a maniacal grin plastered on its face, its sharp teeth making it even more terrifying. It then set its foot on the body and pulled on the arm, ripping it out of its socket. The arm was covered with a metallic substance, giving it the shape of a blade. It then threw the arm in the air, and it sped through the air at an incredible speed. Seeing the arm coming towards them, Layla knew this one was too fast for her to slow down with her ability. They barely managed to dodge it, with Layla pulling Erin away from the area.
"Erin, we're getting out of here." Drawing her hand back, she slapped Erin across the face, leaving a red mark, as she spoke. But it seemed to have worked. Erin was no longer shaking, and she knew the danger the two of them were in.
"Ice path!" She created an ice path in front of her and then formed blades below her feet.
"Do you know how to ice-skate?" Erin asked.
"No."
"Then hold on." Lifting Layla onto her back, Erin started to skate down the ice path at an amazing speed. Every time they would reach near the end of the path, she would extend the ice in front of her. It was several times faster than the two of them running, and they were able to create distance between themselves and the Dalki.
'The best thing to do would be to head to the shelter and get another ship,' the Dalki thought. 'Those two girls were probably heading for the shelter. If so, it would be bad news if they warned everyone before I got there. I guess I better stop them.'
Unbeknownst to the Dalki, Layla and Erin were not making their way to the shelter. Instead, they were rushing towards the well where Vorden was present, hoping to warn him of the danger. Going to the shelter would have been the safer option, but the Dalki had inadvertently blocked their path to it. Although they could go around, it would take too long, and Erin feared that the Dalki had already set its sights on them. Therefore, she felt that their only option was to rely on Vorden.
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After they left, Vorden placed the first aid box back in the bag before carrying a bandaged Peter and the bag over to the intact building. Although there was no bed, it was still better than staying outside in the desert heat. Vorden looked at Peter, who was bandaged from head to toe. He wondered if they had gone too far.
"Too far? Are you kidding me?" Raten interrupted Vorden's thoughts. "This person basically sent us off to our death."
"Raten, don't you remember why we were created?" Vorden asked. "Perhaps Peter was going through something similar to Sil, and it was only thanks to us that Sil was able to cope with it all. Have some sympathy for Peter."
Just then, Peter stirred in his sleep and opened his eyes. He slowly lifted himself off the ground and touched his sides, realizing that he wasn't hurting as badly as before.
"I would move slowly if I were you," Vorden advised. "I asked the first aid box to administer a painkiller to you so that you wouldn't be hurting anymore. You probably aren't feeling the pain right now, but the injury is still there. Just lie down and rest for now."
Peter followed Vorden's instructions and lay back down. Looking at Vorden's awkward face, Peter knew that he had something to say.
"I know you hate me, and you have every right to, but I feel like I need to get something off my chest," Peter said.
Vorden avoided eye contact, trying to seem disinterested even though he was interested in what Peter had to say.
"I didn't choose the school or the bullies over you two like you might be thinking," Peter continued. "I chose my family over you two. You see, I have an older sister, or maybe I should say, I had an older sister. My family wasn't as rich as you can probably imagine, but they wanted us to have a good life. They saved up every little bit of credits they could and they finally managed to purchase a level three ability book for my sister, just before sending her off to the military. She was the hope of our family, and they wanted her to become a decent traveler. But in her second year of military school, she died on an expedition. It was a big shock to us all, but it was an even bigger shock for my parents. It seemed like their life started spiraling down from there. There was no way they could afford another ability book for me. They told me not to worry, not to try and work hard like my sister for fear I would perish as well."
"But I wanted them to lead a better life, so when I came here, I promised myself I would fill the shoes that my sister once had. The only option left for me was to take the Earth ability from the military and try to level up by being loyal to them. The only thing I didn't realize was the crazy things they would ask me to do. And when they started targeting me, threatening me on this expedition, I knew what happened to my sister, so I thought the same thing would happen to me."
"Was it Earl and his underlings?" Vorden asked.
"How do you know about Earl?" Peter asked.
"I know what they did to you, Peter, and trust me, they got what they deserved. I did a lot more than break their fingers, and they won't ever bother you again," Vorden said with a creepy smile that sent chills down Peter's spine.
"No, I mean they were a part of it, but it was someone bigger, someone near the top. You should probably ask Rayne about it. He knows everything," Peter said.
"Now that I think about it, when you called Erin 'senorita', it wasn't your idea, right? It was Rayne's," Vorden said, trying to lighten the mood.
Peter let out a chuckle, "Yeah, Rayne thought it would be funny to see what kind of reaction Erin would make but it see-" before Peter could finish. Screaming could be heard from outside.
"VORDEN! PETER! QUINN!" Layla shouted at the top of her lungs.
The two of them rushed outside and saw Erin skating through the desert, carrying Layla on her back. When they finally reached their destination, Erin collapsed into the sand, and Layla fell off her back.
"Are you okay?" Layla asked, concerned.
"I used up all my power," Erin replied. "I don't think I can help in the fight."
Erin had exhausted all her strength to get them out of there as fast as possible. She had created quite a distance between them and the Dalki, but she knew she hadn't outrun the enemy. She could still feel the pressure of pursuit right behind her.
As they looked over one of the sandhills, they saw a figure approaching them.
"What happened? What are you running from?" Peter asked, his face showing concern. "It can't be those guys. I made sure to break each of their legs. They shouldn't be a problem-"
Peter stopped mid-sentence, his expression turning to horror. "What the fuck? What kind of monstrous presence is that? Did you attract a demon-tier beast?"
"No, it's a Dalki," Layla said, fear written on her face.
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