The Last Dainv-Chapter 162

The Last Dainv-Chapter 162

Gale did a full body stretch, feeling the new flexibility of his muscles and bones. The new Core Class felt like it changed his whole body. He threw a full body punch to the air in front once. Fist stopped mid air in an instant. Letting the grip go, not just his body changed. Senses and reaction also became sharper and more responsive. He was already at a higher peak than most athletes when he was mundane from all the wilderness survival.
Now let's see how this new storage space works. If it worked like other skills, then it should be just as intuitive to use as other skills, relatively anyways.
Putting one hand up, open hand, Gale imagined and willed the Weber to materialize itself onto his hand by the hilt. Just like the storage box, Weber materialized in his head, faster too. It had less lag than the storage box, and he didn't need to reach for his pocket to get an item.
Neat.
Gale took a breath and readied his legs. Suddenly, he pushed off the metal street to test his jump. He shot up like a bullet. Buildings blurred as he cleared 50 meters in one go. The three tri-coloured lights above looked closer for a second, almost confirming that they weren't moons at all. Hanging at the apex of the arc, the central tower dominated his view. All streets led to the centre of it, and its stop levels continued to flicker with soft lights as gravity pulled him back.
Gale landed quietly, knees bent to absorb impact as the metal flooring didn't even bend or dent under the force.
"Damn," he whispered, looking up. That kind of jump and fall would've cost him some effort before, yet now it felt easy peasy.
Tendrils spread out further than before. Nothing in the vicinity. Gale ran across the plaza and into another street to test his speed. Everything blurred, almost scaring him with how fast he went as he lapped around the entire plaza. When he stopped, in just one breath, he caught his breath.
Wave slash of the despaired doom!
Gale slashed upwards. Pathways lit up that fired off Reflection in an instant. It cut a wave through the sky, reaching twice as far.
Nodding, he was satisfied with the thickness and distance it could reach. About 50 metres or so, which was pretty far for a sword attack. What if he tried it with more essence?
Pushing more essence into the pathways, he inwardly shouted,
wave slash of the despaired doom double powah!
Reflection casted forward, fading at around the 65 metre mark even though he put a 2x output on his essence. Diminishing returns, I guess.
Trying again, he took a different stance. Using Dainv Combat Arts to slice the air while using Reflection. Each cut made a unique reflection that flowed with his inhumane movements. He controlled the shape and speed, making some reflections fast while others slow and graceful.
The ease of use of Dainv Combat Arts had grown, as if the knowledge had been embedded into him when it levelled up.
No, seriously, it was like the Dainv Origin System uploaded the knowledge into his head. Chills ran down Gale's spine from remembering the bio-tech BS that Guide had said.
Finishing the full routine of the Dainv Combat Arts combined with Reflection, he noticed his essence barely dropped.
[Essence: 1410/1500]
Salty Mommy Jeepers. Whenever he did the full routine combined with Alter, it usually took at least 200 essence to complete. Now it only took 90.
Ok, stop playing around, Gale. Think about your mission for a moment. Set up base, find friends, do the missions… yeah. That was it.
Looking around, putting up his hands as a visor, he looked up to see whether he could spot a vantage point. Any high enough building would do.
Just over two blocks, a twisted spire reached about 20 floors up. Not as tall as that giant central tower, of course, but it was good enough for a vantage point to set up base and find friends.
That should work. Weber blade dematerialized back into the storage page with just the intent.
Gale jogged towards it, watching everything. The building's entrance was blocked by junk. Didn't matter now. He
jumped
, clearing 15 metres to reach a broken window on the third floor. Climbing through and checking inside, he saw curved walls forming spaces that might have been offices or homes going by Earth logical standards.
Probably. What would a kid know about homes and offices. Nothing, that's what.
Looking deeper inside, spiral stairs wrapped around a central column. Gale went up rapidly. The 20th floor gave a clear view of the plaza and the distant tower ahead with its constantly flickering lights.
The room had three intact walls and a window view with cracked glass. Perfect for watching while staying hidden. The spot showed movement in any direction, including the path to the central tower.
Gale pulled a combat kit from storage space. The backpack contained a small tent, ration bars, water tablets, tactical gear, and pots.
He set up the tent in the corner, facing the only entry. It expanded to full size, just big enough for one and a half people. Next came supplies. Food bricks and weapons placed for quick access by the wall.
With camp set up, Gale sat near the opening. From this height, he saw across much of the city. The central tower stood above everything, upper floors blinking. Somewhere in this place, his friends were either lost or captured.
"Where would I go if I were them?" Gale muttered, putting up his hands as a visor again and peering through the low buildings. He thought about Rachel, Ollie, and the others. Were they surviving properly in this clanker infested place? There wasn't even any vegetation to live off of.
Movement caught his eye. Something moved through the streets, a softer diffused light compared to the one that caused the explosions. It moved steadily toward his direction. Not random, but crossing the straightest path to his location.
Tendrils spread out, extending towards the moving light. But when it reached the 600 meter mark, a sense of cold dread fell on Gale, coming from above as if someone glared at the back of his head.
He jumped back away from the window, whispering, "Guide, what was that?"
[Analyzing interference pattern. Signature matches known corruption phenomena. This dimensional space is experiencing acute voidal distortion effects, typical of environments suffering progressive corruption invasion. Such distortions create signal disruption zones where void-based reconnaissance abilities cannot penetrate.]
Gale frowned, watching the light continue its approach. "How do I fix it? I need to see what that thing is."
[Attain higher Core Class to overcome distortion effects.]
"So you're telling me to 'get good,'" Gale said, hand on the blade.
[Affirmative.]
Well, Guide.
You
should get good. Should also probably call you a clanker! Hmph. Gale shook his head.
Narrowing his eyes, the only thing left to do was to personally check it out. He can probably take on one or two spider mechs by himself now after levelling up anyways. And he could probably run away if he was outnumbered.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. the violation.
Gale moved to the window frame. Twenty stories down, the metal street stretched out below, inviting him to jump. A normal human would die from such a fall.
He jumped.
Wind rushed past as he fell, metal floor coming fast. Twenty floors. Nineteen. Fifteen. Ten. He angled slightly to control his descent.
At the last moment, Gale pushed essence into his legs. His feet hit metal with barely a sound, his body absorbing the impact. He crouched low and looked around. The yellow light had disappeared behind twisted buildings and spires to his right.
Gale moved quickly, sticking to the shadows. The dark hunter hunts that which hunts him, even if the metal made it hard to muffle his steps as every step could echo. He adjusted his walk, stepping lighter to reduce noise.
Broken street lamps lined his path, posts sticking out at 90 degree bends. Sometimes, sparks shot from empty sockets, brief flashes lighting the satin metal sheets.
Gale stopped at each intersection to check. The city felt alien where streets curved constantly with straights that didn't follow a direct city plan from the ground, but he knew they all led back to the tower. Inefficient design. Maybe on Earth, the adults would call this sort of city a work of civil design art.
He reached a spot where four streets met. Based on his calculations, the light should have reached this intersection just as he did.
Yet nothing moved. No light. No sound except occasional sparks from broken lamps.
Gale turned slowly, peeking his head out from the corner of the wall, scanning the perimeter and waiting for whatever created that light to come.
A light tap on his shoulder sent him flinching and somersaulting backwards, Weber materializing immediately.
Goddamn you, ghosts! I'll kill you!! I'll kill all of you!!
When his feet reached the floor, his eyes opened to see Rachel standing there, completely calm. Her dark red hair caught the lighting of the sparks from the lamps. And the small smile on her lips somehow gave him more chills than a ghost.
"Hey," she said.
Gale dematerialized Weber, heart still racing. He almost shouted those stupid lines. Dad always said screams attract predators, and noise meant death. Besides, that would've made him look like a complete fool to Rachel. But now that she's here, most important person to survive, check.
"Hey, Rachel," Gale took a deep breath. "How'd you find me and how did you do that thingy?"
"What thingy?" Rachel asked.
"How'd you get behind me without me noticing?"
"I don't know."
"How can you not…." Gale's eyes narrowed. "I should've sensed you."
"Maybe you were distracted," she said, tilting her head.
The ring on Gale's finger grew hotter, her face flushing. Better not to chase whatever answer he's trying to chase.
"It's okay." Gale smiled. Sincerely. Most important person, check, again. For ghosts, of course. Definitely for the ghosts.
"Good choice." Rachel casually smiled. Then she looked him up and down. "You reached Attuned, didn't you?"
"How could you tell?"
"It's obvious." She tapped his chest lightly. "Awakened and Attuned have completely different signatures. Congratulations."
"Thanks." Gale looked around at the empty streets, twisted buildings, three moons casting strange light. "Where are the others? Ollie? The twins? Lily? Do you know what this place is?"
Rachel shook her head. "Haven't seen anyone else. Just walking around
casually
until I found you
coincidentally.
"
"What do you mean just walking? You didn't see any mechs or anything weird while you were just walking
casually?
"
"Nothing. This place is empty. Dead. We should use a light or something. Create a signal that others can see. Ollie's probably hurt. We need to find him first," Rachel said.
"No lights. No signals. Nothing that draws attention," Gale said.
"Why not?"
"Because we're not alone." Gale pointed to a conveniently placed burn on the street's metal floor. "I fought something earlier. A clank- I mean, a spider robot, twelve feet tall, armed with missiles and lasers."
Basically, garbage truck height, but wider with clickity legs.
"One robot doesn't mean anything."
"It's not just the robot," Gale said. "There are other things. Scout drones. Tiny mechanical eyes with spider legs that can turn invisible. They're watching."
"You saw these?" Rachel asked.
"I killed one. There's probably more." Gale looked up at the surrounding buildings. "This place is definitely not as dead as it looks, or at least it disguises itself like it's dead."
"So what's your plan?"
"I've set up a temporary camp." Gale pointed to the tall building he came from. "20th floor. Good visibility, defensible position. We can rest there while figuring out how to find the others."
"Lead the way."
Gale moved through the streets carefully, making sure to stay near the walls. He kept both of them in the shadows of the shadows. They reached the building's entrance where junk blocked the door.
"Where's the entrance?" Rachel asked.
Gale bent his knees slightly, then jumped upwards to a broken window 15 metres up. He grabbed the edge and pulled himself in.
Rachel stared at him for a few seconds, sighing. Then, she jumped, matching his own and bringing her to the window he entered through.
"I guess that works as an entrance."
Gale led her to the spiral staircase and climbed up quickly without talking. Only the sound of footsteps on the metal steps echoed along the interior of the well.
They reached the 20th floor. Everything was just as he left it. Nothing changed. Small tent in the corner with one side against the wall. Supplies neatly organized along the counters against the wall.
"Temporary home sweet temporary home," Gale said. "Do you like it?"
"Yeah, I like it. It's cozy. Though it'd be cozier with a soft ground and trees all around," Rachel said with a chuckle.
She walked to the window, looking out at the city below. Her eyes caught the massive tower that filled the whole horizon.
"What do you think that is?" she asked.
Gale stood beside her. "Don't know. But lights mean power. Where there's power, there might be answers."
Rachel stared at the tower. She sighed, and then turned away, looking at the camp Gale had made.
"Got anything to eat?" she asked. "Raid against Alexei and then walking for hours made me hungry."
Gale pointed to brick-shaped objects near the counters against the wall. "Found those in something that looked like a shop. It's a bit hard though.
Rachel picked one up, turning the dense gray-brown brick in her hand. She tried breaking off a piece. The brick barely crumbled. "Did you really eat this? It's too hard to eat. There should be a pot in those combat kits Gerard packed. We can make this more palatable."
With the intent of bringing out the combat kit, a backpack materialized onto the floor. Beside it, one of the hooks held a pot. "Why did Gerard give us all this? Was he preparing us for war or something?"
Rachel took the pot from the side. "I really don't know, but it never hurts to overprepare, especially against Aur Families. Usually, battles between families can last days, weeks, and maybe even months."
She began setting up the pot on the floor and held out both palms facing down on it. Water droplets began to form inside the bowl as visible drips of water formed in the gap between her hand and the bowl.
"This might take a minute," she said, maintaining focus. The water level rose gradually.
When the pot was half full, Rachel put her hand at the bottom of the pot. The pot's bottom then became slightly red and heat radiated from her hand. The water boiled quickly, and she dropped one of the bricks into the water, stirring it with a finger to soften it up.
"How are you doing that?" Gale took his face close to the bowl, staring at the water. "I thought your powers were fire-based."
"I almost forgot you didn't learn basics 101." Rachel smiled at Gale, hand still on the pot. "Ether is still ether, no matter what form it takes. Anyone talented enough can learn multiple disciplines. Water magic isn't my specialty, which is why I'm slow at gathering water from the air. But it works."
Rachel took a small spoon from the kit and tasted the mushy brick soup. "Not bad. Try it."
Gale ate from the spoon she held out. The paste tasted better than sand or soil. Much better than the sandy taste it had when it was in brick form. It was something in between oatmeal and mashed potatoes with a slight metallic taste that somehow made the taste even better.
"Ollie and the twins can probably do this too. There are multiple schools of Ether Arts you could attend after we get back to Earth." She paused, scooping up a mouthful for herself and held out another to Gale, which he accepted. "But I'm not sure if you're interested, since you have your own specialized arts already."
"Water arts would be useful in survival situations. It's one of the most important elements for staying alive," Gale said. "Making water probably would've saved me a lot of effort back in the forest."
Rachel handed him the bowl, now finished with the paste and now just containing water. "Have some water."
"We should make a plan for tomorrow. Figure out how to find the others." Gale drank from the bowl.
A gun shot boomed across the whole vicinity followed by what sounded like a shockwave. Gale and Rachel moved to the window, scanning the streets below where the shot came from.

.
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Chapter 162