Chapter 275: First contact
As Ive been strengthening her body, Ive co to realize that I'm not very good at it. It seems I lack the ability to help others effectively.
My body? No problem, I can move my mana however I want, I can even change my heart and slowly turn myself into a construct or whatever the end is. To help soone else, I would need much more ti to examine them. Unlike Lily or Sophie, I don't have that instinctual sense and innate ability.
Another thing to work on, I hate feeling weak. Sure, personal power is the most important, but situations like this shouldn't happen to .
The little body in my arms is still shaking, and I can feel her getting warr and shaking more.
How weak she is, how delicate her body is. Was I like that when I entered the 1st floor at level 0?
Once again, I search through the system shop, but there isn't anything to help .
Another thing I could do is to sell my last remaining rare passive and buy a weaker passive that would allow
to heal others, but I do not find anything like that. I barely got any offers to keep myself healed, so I guess it makes so kind of sense.
I pick up speed and I cut my arm to examine the healing process behind my passive skill. Then I stop the passive and try to emulate those movents with my thermal energy in an attempt to actively heal myself.
In the middle of my third attempt, I reach the city and land on top of one of the buildings.
There are old, broken, cracked, or straight-up destroyed buildings covered in greenery as far as I can see. Nature has taken its hold over the area now that there are no humans to prevent it.
The city is big enough to house a few million people, yet it is empty. There are trees growing from the roads, shattered windows peering out from waterlogged buildings, and car-like machines rusting away everywhere I look.
It all reminds
of Earth, yet it is so different at the sa ti. Nearly every building and every road has so sort of circuits running through them that were once powered by mana and seed to have been designed to interact with it.
[Perception] reaches as far as I can, and sensing movent, I move to observe only to find a few monsters. Sensing my presence, they rush out of one of the buildings, emitting a loud screeching noise.
They have the appearance of humanoids, with gray skin, red eyes, and tattered clothes covering their forms. Blue veins run through their skin, originating from their hearts.
[Veilshrieker - lvl 123]
[Veilshrieker - lvl 98]
[Veilshrieker - lvl 113]
I watch as they screech, summoning more from the surrounding buildings. Turning their red glowing eyes on , they start running and burrowing their limbs into the walls of the building just to get to .
They move aggressively, pushing each other away in a show of rage and bloodlust. They wound each other, they drool, they hurt themselves, and strain their bodies just to reach
faster. There is no hesitation in them, and their eyes are filled with a single emotion.
Pure hate.
I create a field around the little half-demon in my arms so she wont hear the screeching and wait.
Two dozen Veilshriekers reach , and the mont they step into my domain, I activate [Redistribution], imdiately halting them, and they freeze in the middle of their approach.
I feel them pushing against , hurting their bodies to do so, and the blue veins over their bodies beco darker, eyes letting out a deeper glow.
But they can't move at all.
So, with my disciple in my arms, I step within arms reach of the closest one and examine it.
The monster reminds
of a human, and when I cut its chest open, its heart looks like mine. Its heart has been converted into a mana heart under the influence of the system, and is now being used to power this being.
My own heart beats, and I move the kinetic energy I collect, and a blast of it explodes through the monster's head, throwing all the blood and chunks outward with the pressure.
[You have defeated Veilshrieker - lvl 123]
The mont the monster dies, I notice its heart moving weirdly, and it attempts to send out a signal.
In a different situation, I would let it happen just to see what it is, but right now, I'm not in the position to do so. So I disrupt the signal, and when I kill the remaining monsters, I disrupt their signals as well.
A warning maybe, or a signal to summon more monsters towards their killer.
The little half-demon mumbles sothing in her fervent sleep, and I hold her tighter before stepping over the edge of the building and falling to the street where I absorb the inertia of my fall, cushioning my landing. The absorbed kinetic energy I release in a circle around .
Walking through the post-apocalyptic city, I try the Community a few more tis and then my Mana Wavelength Iris, all to no success. My attempts at learning active healing also fail as expected, it will take months to bear any fruit.
So I continue to move while sending my senses ahead through the city.
[You have defeated Veilshrieker - lvl 6]
[You have defeated Veilshrieker - lvl 15]
[You have defeated Veilshrieker - lvl 2]
My flas burn more of the monsters as I pass through a more densely populated area of the city, though they seem to be much weaker.
Most of the lower-level ones are shorter, their figures are more reminiscent of children than they are of adults. But even they show pure hate anyti they see .
In the eerie silence of a modern city overgrown with vegetation, their shrieks sound unnerving. The way they jump and attack , not caring about wounds or the difference in our strength, is just as disquieting.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Hundreds, thousands of them turn to ash in my golden flas, as my improved heart supplies them readily. The flas lt the sides of the buildings, turn vegetation to dust, and evaporate the monsters.
And every ti any of the monsters die, I cut off any signals they send.
The young half-demon clinging to
doesn't allow
to move properly, I cant even use much mana, lest I kill her with a burst of power. Its a valuable lesson, and I gradually learn how to fight carefully from the fear of hurting her with my re presence.
As I delve deeper into the city, I finally feel sothing that seems human. I take a step towards them, but then another presence can be felt nearby.
I imdiately seize control of my mana and pull it back, using [Mana Domain] and [Resonance] to hide the mana leaking from my disciple and . That done, I quickly jump into one of the buildings and step into the shadows.
Down in the streets, I can see three humans passing through. All their clothes seem to be enchanted judging by the way they make it hard to even see them, their bodies hard to focus on without using skills. Still, I do not even try to do so and just stare at them with my senses.
The three of them move skillfully, weaving between the buildings, constantly aware of their surroundings.
[Blurblade - lvl 121]
[Shadow Weaver - lvl 146]
[Spectral Scout - lvl 123]
They freeze their movent, and even though theyve tried to remain hidden until now, their mana engages at full force as they try to run away.
Not even for a second do they think about fighting, and there is a reason for it.
[Veil Guardian - lvl ??]
From the street between two tall buildings across the road cracked and covered by grass, a monster takes a step.
The monster looks similar to the Veilshriekers from before; it's taller, and the biggest difference is the blades it has in place of its hands. The blades start at the elbow and are as long as I'm tall, both of them made of tal with a faint blue shine.
For a short mont, humans run but then the monster takes a step, and the humans falter and fall down. An effect reminding
of a strong gravity field.
Desperately the n try to escape and activate their skills, but the monster seems to disrupt their mana, and while observing the area, it reaches them.
I can hear the screams, even from my distant vantage point, as the Veil Guardian lowers its body and opens its mouth, eating the humans alive.
I can hear everything, and I can see how desperately two of the humans struggle while the monster devours the first one. Exactly like the monsters from before, the Veil Guardian screeches full of hate as it devours the thrashing man.
When the man dies and stops moving, the monster stops eating too.
The scene repeats with the second human, but the monster seems to be more careful this ti. It eats slower and starts with the limbs so the human won't die as quickly.
Once again, the mont the man dies, the monster loses interest and finishes the last one.
Then it stands up, a tall pale figure, blue veins going through the body starting at the heart. Two long deadly-looking blades and blood that drips from the chin of the monster. Its senses, like sonar, examine the area and then it moves again.
And I, without a speck of doubt, know that this is the monster that found
back at the lake.
I give it one hour, and even during that ti, my disciple doesn't wake up. No, she seems to be getting worse. She is shaking more, and her body is hot to the touch.
Well, good job, I guess. I really suck at this, don't I?
Using the least possible amount of mana to perceive the area around
and to absorb my kinetic energy as I jump from the building, I walk towards the three n's corpses.
The blood is already dry, and their bodies are cold.
Trying not to look at their faces, I examine their bodies and try to search for anything useful.
I find a small bottle of water, a tiny pack with so dense food, and so items, most of them broken, but I take them anyway, just in case.
Quickly, I leave again, reaching the rooftops and continuing from there as the sun starts setting down slowly. I think it's called the golden hour, isn't it? When the suns rays glow with that golden color at the end of the day they make any view beautiful. Even this dead city is no different.
As far as I can see, there is building after building covered in green vines, so of them even have trees growing from their top. Buildings cracked and fallen, streets unusable and overtaken by nature. Yet in so strange, sad way, it's a beautiful view.
(Attempts number two, Owen, can you answer?) sounds in my head.
One of the items In my possession tries to connect to my mind in a way that indicates an attempt at communication, and I allow it to do so.
Looking through the items Ive looted, I take out an ovular piece of tal with two mana stones inside of it and a set of inscriptions I hadnt understood until now.
(Owen, please, can you hear ?)
I examine the item and easily find an inscription that acts like a switch.
(Hello, I'm Nathaniel.)
A mont of hesitation before another ssage reaches .
(Hello Nathaniel, I'm Darren, can I ask you why you have Owens Transmitter?)
The tone of his voice is not nice at all, but there is no wonder.
(I saw a Veil Guardian eating three people, and after it left, I searched their bodies,)
The silence is longer this ti. I dont think he trusts .
(Darren, I wont dance around it. I have a level 6 child with , and she needs dical attention, a healer, or an item. She drank and bathed in the water of the lake just away from the city.)
(What group do you belong to? No, you cant belong to any, you wouldnt be asking us for help. Are you a wanderer? rchant? Courier?)
(I cant tell you.)
(You just told
three of my friends are dead, and Im still not sure that you didnt kill them. Then you imdiately ask
for favors?)
Well, when he puts it like that, its obvious it would sound bad.
(I will pay you back. Im sowhat strong, so Im sure there are things I can do for you. We dont have to et eye to eye if you dont want to. Just leave so dicine sowhere and tell
where it is.)
The start of this floor is far from optimal and has, thus far, proved to be annoying.
Out of nowhere, I start missing the silly doggo. Being able to pet him or boop his snout would at least allow
to alleviate so of my stress.
Still, I continue, (There were so things I found on their bodies. A few mana stones with encrypted information, a weird-looking bracelet, and a small sealed wooden box.)
Seeing how dangerous it is outside and their low levels, I think most of the survivors are of similar strength, and for them to go out, they must have so important mission. Maybe one of the three items.
Darren takes a bit longer to answer, but that confirms it. One of the items I have is important to him.
(Give us the location where Owen and others got attacked. When we confirm your story, we will leave dicine in so buildings, and you will leave the items there. No need for contact at all.)
(Okay.)
After that, I describe my location as best as I can, and the transmitter turns off.
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