Chapter 213: You Should be Dead
Chapter 211
The agony the boy was enduring was worse than death itself... not that he had actually died before, but the sensation was unparalleled.
It felt as though a thousand incandescent needles were prickling him from the inside out.
Simultaneously, his bones were crumbling and regenerating at such a rapid velocity that his mind felt like it could shatter from the sheer tornt.
A heavy, throbbing headache—one that felt like his brain was being clobbered continuously with a massive hamr—washed over him, causing his vision to blur into a chaotic ss of colors.
He couldn’t even distinguish the floor from the ceiling. His senses were dulled, drowned out by the symphony of his own suffering.
"AAAAAAAAAAARGH!"
Another harrowing scream tore from his parched lips as he coughed out a spray of dark blood.
"RAY!" Van shouted in imdiate, visceral panic.
He rushed forward without a second thought.
The cannon structure surrounding his hands began crumbling away, revealing hundreds of tiny chanical spiders.
These tallic arachnids scurried with chanical precision toward the bracelet on his left arm, where a small compartnt had automatically slid open.
The spiders vanished inside, the latch clicking shut on its own.
The now lifeless, dull beast core clattered to the ground just as Van slid on his knees before his writhing friend.
"Ra-Ray! What happened to you? Did the beast get you? Wh-What happened?!" Van questioned frantically, turning his friend onto his back to inspect the damage.
The Tribrid could be seen clawing at the earth, his fingers digging deep into the stone in trendous pain.
Blood spilled down the edges of his mouth, staining his chin.
To top it off, he was spasming violently, his muscles locked in unimaginable contractions.
But even then, from the deepest depths of his tornt, he could hear his best friend’s voice acting as a steadying anchor.
It gave him just enough focus to open his mouth slightly, more blood spilling out as he coughed out a broken syllable:
"B-B-B..."
"B? B what?" Van asked, dread and panic washing over him in a cold wave.
Seeing Ray in this condition made it feel like he was hovering at death’s door.
It looked like his friend was truly dying right in front of him.
"Arghhhhh!" Ray groaned loudly as the pain intensified, his head spinning in a dizzying whirlpool.
Pomlling his fist into the ground repeatedly to ground himself, Ray croaked out the words again.
"Be-Be-Beast co-cores. Ge-Ge-Get them."
"Huh?" Van lifted a brow in genuine shock, staring at Ray for several seconds.
His eyes blinked in disbelief at his friend’s priorities.
Without thinking, Van swung his hand across the boy’s face in a resounding slap that made the Tribrid yelp out loudly.
The sudden strike caused even more pain to course through Ray’s veins.
Seeing what he had done, Van’s eyes widened, and he gripped Ray’s face gently, his hands trembling.
"I’m-I’m so sorry for that! It’s just that you are so goddamn stupid! You are going through heavens knows what, and you are concerned about beast cores? You stupid fool!"
Ray glared into the eyes of his best friend, his jaws tightly clenched.
’Ju-Just wait till I’m done. I will bury you into the earth, you fool!’
Van’s eyes beca moist almost instantly, the tears threatening to spill as he watched Ray shaking on the ground like a fish out of water.
"Wh-What do I do? What is happening to you? I don’t even understand... My head hurts. I can’t co up with som—"
Before he could finish his sentence, Ray managed to lift a shaky arm.
He clasped the boy’s collar and yanked him weakly toward his face, his eyes burning with a desperate, delirious intensity.
"If-If-If anything or-or-or anybody gets their hands on my hard-earned beast co-co.... Aaaaaargh.... Beast cores, I will kill you."
Van blinked in utter disbelief, montarily stunned into silence by his friend’s stubbornness.
Was Ray being for real right now?
Currently, the Aspirant was fighting against the urge to whack his friend in the face once more.
Before he could give a reply whatsoever, he heard footsteps.
His head cranked up almost imdiately as he spun around in fear.
’More beasts?’
The footsteps were growing louder and louder by the second.
The mont they had walked into the cavern, they had been so captivated by the crystals embedded in the walls that they failed to realize that there were smaller tunnel-like holes in the walls that led to heaven knows where.
The rhythmic sounds Van was hearing ca from the various openings in the rock, causing dread to fill his heart as he glanced down at the weakened Ray.
Clenching his jaws incredibly hard, Van let his friend’s head go and then quickly dug his hand into his pocket.
He pulled out a beast core before lifting his right arm and pointing it forward.
The bracelet lit up, the compartnt opening again, ready for Van to equip his gear and defend their position.
But before he had the chance to do that, the sources of the footsteps revealed themselves as they stood at the edge of the different tunnel-like holes.
Seeing the figures, Van’s hand trembled, followed by his eyes widening in imnse surprise.
"Guys?!"
...
Standing at the mouths of three separate tunnels, Van could see humans.
Not just any humans, but his fellow Aspirants from the Corps, and they were all familiar faces at that. Kai, Trisha, Chloe, Felix and... uh... who was that?
Van had seen the last one before, especially since the boy had volunteered to hold back the horde of stone golems along with Ray and Felix so that the other Aspirants would have ti to escape.
But he never did get to know his actual na. Regardless, the figures jumped down from the ledges, landing smoothly in the large cavern.
"You are all alive!" Van shouted in genuine relief as he dropped the beast core back into his pocket.
"Huh? Did you think I would be so weak as to die from that asly fall?" Kai asked with a cocky smile as he walked forward with unhurried, confident steps.
"Humph.... I’m much more durable than you give
credit for," Felix added with a wink and a sharp smile.
Trish crossed her arms and gave Van an icy glare that could freeze the air.
"How did you survive? You should be dead."
Chloe stiffly turned her head toward the overly blunt girl. "Can’t you be soft or nice for once?"
Trish turned to look at the girl for a few seconds.
Though they were roommates back at the Corps, they barely interacted, and with Trish being so notoriously bad at rembering people’s faces, she gave her a long, scrutinizing look before scoffing.
"Guess the truth is no longer being appreciated around here."
Chloe was about to retort and say sothing else when a loud groan echoed in the cavern, followed by an ear-piercing scream from Ray.
Everybody paused, looking toward Van, who had been standing in front of the Tribrid while he underwent his evolution—his body acting as a shield for his friend.
Turning to stare behind him, Van stepped away, allowing the others to see the dead beasts in the background along with Ray, who was in a... bad state.
"Ray!"
"Brother!"
Kai and Felix shouted simultaneously as they rushed toward the Tribrid writhing on the ground.
Reviews
All reviews (0)