Chapter 44: The Might of a Follower

I dashed towards Galt once more. With his stamina and mana drained, he took punishing blow after punishing blow. I quit dodging and planted my feet so that I could crush my fists through his skin. After a minute of beating him to death, he finally fell while drowning from the blood leaking out of his ruptured lungs.

Gaining 7 levels in one go, I turned towards Althea. Mightus chased her as she leapt and sprinted away, firing bolt after bolt. Sweat poured off Althea, yet Mightus looked refreshed. He was a hunter, cornering his prey. I wouldn’t let him finish what he started.

I dashed forward, the ground cracking underfoot. I closed in before shutting off oppression. It would rip Althea apart, so it wasn’t worth the risk. As I neared them, Althea tripped over a stone. Mightus sliced his sword across her neck, lopping her head off.

As her head spun through the air, blood squirted from her neck. Mightus turned towards me and bowed his head. He pointed his sword towards me,

“Then you will be my brother in arms.”

I rolled my eyes as I ran towards him and her. He raised an eyebrow at me before Althea’s headless body wrapped around him. With her unusual strength, she crushed him like a snake. Blood leaked from his mouth as he gurgled,

“How?”

I reached them before whipping a slicing hook towards his jaw. He flew sideways, Althea holding on like a bear trap. Several teeth clattered on the ground before I charged towards them both once more. I raised my fist like a guillotine and cracked his skull against the pavement. Slamming strike after slamming strike, his life left his body as Althea’s head regenerated.

Soaked in blue blood, Althea slowly stood up and reformed. Despite gaining 20 levels in one go, she wasn’t pleased. Slinging the gunk off her arms, she said,

“Goddamn this is disgusting.”

I clapped my hands hard in front of her, the metal gauntlets ringing,

“Come on. Focus. Put your points where you need them and let’s go help Kessiah.”

“Ah…Of course. Sorry.”

I opened my screen, putting a single point into constitution before the perk option came up for constitution.

[Behemoth(Constitution of 100 or more. Note – Two more level 100 perks left. Choose wisely.) – Your shadow shall blot out the sun. Doubles height, weight, and density bonuses ffrom constitution, and doubles the leveling bonuses of the leveling perk. Gain an additional 5 health per point in constitution, and 2 extra hp per level. Another 1/10th of constitution added towards strength(3/10ths conversion). Power oriented melee skills scale with constitution.]

I selected the perk then poured my points into strength. Right as I had nearly emptied out my attribute points, the strength perk appeared.

[Apocalyptic(Strength of 100 or more. Note – One more level 100 perk left. Choose wisely.) – You cannot bend. You can only break. Doubles physical damage bonus per level. Adds 5 more health per point in strength. 2% total bonus towards physical damage for every 1% of health missing. Another 1/10th of strength added towards dexterity(3/10ths conversion). Maim chance converted into break chance.]

After selecting the perk, I put all the rest of my points into endurance. I’d handle my next leveling perk at another time. When I finalized my decisions, my chest ruptured. The constriction took me to my knees, like someone struck your stomach and stole your breath. I couldn’t breath before my armor ruptured on all sides.

Blood gushed into my chest and out of my armor. The skin I relied on had turned agianst me, choking me before my expansion tore it apart. Fortunately, it didn’t last long. As my wounds and armor healed, I gripped my hand. When I clasped hard, a monstrous, overwhelming power came back.

I doubled my strength in an instant. My body was that of a titan. I stepped forward, my limbs freed by my sudden shift in strength. For a few moments, I was intoxicated by the rush of rush in my limbs. Every part of me ebbed a steady, colossal might. It was like changing bodies with a giant. Everything around me seemed smaller, like I grew a foot taller. Maybe I did, I don’t know.

What I did know was that Kessiah was getting her ass whooped. I shouted, “Come on Althea. let’s go.”

She fumbled, “Uh, I don’t know what to put my points into.”

I snarled, “We don’t have time for hesitation. Get your head out of your ass.”

As my senses adjusted to my new body, the raspy, old voice of Dakhma came into focus.

“It is strange that a remnant would fight against Yawm. You’re kind never held flesh as sacred. The only difference between your kind and Yawm was that you used science to bend your bodies. Yawm uses his own power instead.”

Kessiah couldn’t reply, her arms and legs a blurred fury of movement. Sparks flew off the flowing sword of Dakhma as his blade clanked against Kessiah’s skin. I shot into a sprint, seeing her health bar dwindle. Kessiah’s blood splattered in every direction by now as Dakhma continued his interrogation,

“I imagined your kind would join Yawm in freeing the living from Schema’s little game. You are enslaved and hated by Schema. Your kind, who is his creator, has been banished to forever wander the stars with no home. Yawm offered you all a home, and yet you refused.”

Dakhma movements blended so smoothly and so perfectly, they couldn’t be called anything but beautiful. Every twist and turn merged into his next strike, like a never ending dance. Instead of beating his opponents down, he showed his superiority in skill and finesse without ever needing too crush them.

Anytime Kessiah gained a clear shot, he would spin and turn and torque out of the way. Every dodge would lead straight into another counter attack, making retaliation impossible. I neared them as Dakhma mouthed,

“You called my master’s light madness. You would rather wallow in darkness than open your eyes. You have chosen to be blind, despite being born with the gift of sight. How I envy your opportunity. I wished I could have been given what you were given. But no-“

His cape wrapped around Kessiah’s waist, slinging her back and forth onto the ground. Craters formed under each strike with cataclysmic booms echoing around us. He tossed her, sending her flying through another pillar of the bridge.

The concrete wall crushed at the force of her impact. The ground rippled with an earthquake radiating from the ground. Like a reaper, Dakhma paced towards her,

“Unlike you, I was born a slave.”

Kessiah coughed up a pound of blood from her throat. Dakhma didn’t even look tired or damaged. It didn’t just look like he was a higher level. He was a better fighter too. Kessiah couldn’t hold a candle to him.

Even worse still, Althea was fumbling with her status screen instead of firing at him. She needed to learn when to act. Kessiah shook as she raised her head and spit her words like venom,

“You don’t know a damn thing about me.”

Dakhma dashed towards her,

“I know enough.”

With a surge of orange lightning, I charged straight into Dakhma. I couldn’t stop his attack, but I sent him off course just enough to miss Kessiah. When we landed on the ground a hundred feet away, my armor caved in like crushing a can underfoot. Waterfalls of blood pumped from between the cracks in my armor. The ground around me oscillated.

It was a force unlike any I’d ever known. Nothing even came close. It was like swallowing a grenade and letting it detonate in your stomach. No, it was like standing and staring at a tsunami tall as a mountain, knowing you will die.

Yet, I lived. I survived as he pulled his sword from my shattered chest. From under the hood, Dakhma’s scarred lips frowned. He sighed before deflecting a bolt from behind him. I couldn’t move. Everything blurred together like reality had become a soupy mess. That was probably my face getting in my eyes at that point though.

Still, I tried moving out of the way. I couldn’t tell what was going on, but I still didn’t want to lay here and die. Instead of finishing me off, Dakhma grinned,

“You are a true fighter. Admirable. Yawm would love a fighter like you in our ranks.”

Dakhma turned towards Kessiah before deflecting another harpoon. He paced towards Kessiah, slapping Althea’s spears away with ease. With so many pillars crushed though, the bridge above us caved inwards before collapsing. A wave of dust plumed upwards, masking us in a wave of noise and dust.

Before the powder settled, a pair of thin arms pulled me from the rubble. A second later, the scenery shifted once more. A soft something held me off the ground. It was a pleasing cool, almost cold. Two more swooshy sounds ebbed around my dark, fading sight before a familiar face glanced down at me.

With a proud smile, Torix whispered,

“You’ve done well. You may have even saved Kessiah’s life.”

I grinned back,

“Yeah, I’m pretty fucking cool.”

My words didn’t come out smooth. They were choppy, with a bit of choking in them. Blood sloshed in my throat a bit as I spoke too. Still, I think Torix got the message. Minutes later, my body was back. The bones snapped into place. The skin reconnected. The tears in the armor suturing back as if it were alive.

It was after all. With a few snaps and pops into place, I was good as new and ready for more. Kessiah was laying on another table of mana. Her recovery was nothing like mine. It was going to be a lot longer before she recovered.

Althea had a few scrapes, but that meant nothing to her. She may have had wounds worse than mine if she was still showing signs of damage. Either that or her regeneration couldn’t be bothered with more cosmetic wounds. I couldn’t tell.

It was interesting seeing how drained she was compared with me. She fell asleep on the black bed beneath her within seconds of healing. Torix pointed at her,

“Take her to her tent when you are able.”

I glanced around, noticing the kevlar cloth surrounding us. I sat up, taking a few breaths to orient myself. When I stood, the ground gave a little under my steps. It was odd, but not altogether unpleasing.

After a few steps forward, I could use my legs without them wobbling. I shook out the stiffness of myself. It was weird moving now. The shift in strength and the destruction of my body made me feel like I was moving a freshly healed wound.

It didn’t take long before my brain accepted my new self as its carrier though. The whiplash faded as I paced over towards Althea. I picked her up, princess carry style before walking back towards her tent.

As I walked through the camp, everyone seemed smaller. It’s strange how the mind will do that to you. It would rather assume everything else changed rather than yourself.

Anyways, I could hold Althea in one arm comfortably now. She was so much smaller than me. I opened the tent before setting her onto her hammock. I walked outside of it before checking out my stats.

I gained quite a few skill levels and levels after all the fighting. 32 levels to be exact. The two leveling perks made a massive difference, especially for my physical damage bonus. That was through the roof now.

Level 326Attribute TotalsStrength – Increases carrying weight, maximum speed, and physical power100.1Constitution – Increases hardness, density, and weight of your body100.1Endurance – Increases regeneration of stamina, health, and their totals567Dexterity – Increases ease of movement, flexibility, and reflexes54Willpower – Increases internal motivation, mana regen, and Mental Res270Intelligence – Increases memory, critical thinking, and total mana pool101.4Charisma – Increases likeability, persuasion, and decreases prices at shops29.3Luck – Increases money found, odds in your favor, and chance of rare events54.5Perception – Increases comprehension, the five senses, and awareness34.8

Daniel HillsideTotalsRegenBuffs/DebuffsHealth22,196/22,1964547/minOppression Damage- 10,000+30%hp/minStamina12,789/12,789160/secElemental Res – 97.5%Harbinger of Cataclysm26,872,985/256,000,0000/per minPlasma Res – 97.5%Phys Dam Reduction – 97.5%Rad Res – 97.5%Phys Dam Bonus – 1681%Mental Res – 97.5%

Now that I had my bases covered, there was the question of which leveling perk to take next. I mean strength and constitution were obvious. Constitution ended up giving me some health too, which made it more than worth it. From here on, I didn’t really know what the other leveling perks would do though.

I figured asking Torix when he had time would be a good call. Until then, I would just put all my points into good old endurance. It hadn’t steered me wrong yet. That being said, each point in endurance was mattering less and less. When you have so much health already, you need a massive increase for it to matter.

Two leveling perks hadn’t even given me a 10% increase in health. The only thing making a difference now was points in the stat and levels. A thousand more levels and I would be a beast. To be honest, I wasn’t very enthusiastic about that fact.

Still, I lived through a blow meant to finish off Kessiah. Dakhma was over 3000 levels above me. Tough to complain about surviving something like that. If I could take a beating from him, then lesser foes would be like nothing in comparison. I figured it’s better to count my blessings instead of bitching.

Before closing my status, I put all my tree points into genesis of potential. I was pretty close to unlocking the next tier of bonuses at 750 points. Focusing my efforts on a bit of runes and forging would pass the time and get me some skill points as well, so that’s what I did. Plus it was good to unwind after such an intense fight.

Hours passed like minutes while I focused. I never liked studying, yet I relished in working with all the runes. I didn’t have to think my way through it. It was more like trial and error with a decent idea of my general direction. Made the process a lot more fun, especially compared with learning for several hours. That made my mind feel like jello in comparison.

The sun came up after a few hours, but I figured there wasn’t really a reason to stop piddling. Without a need for sleep, I kept on working. By the time I was ready for a break, I’d made three different swords.

One would brandish fire when you unsheathed it, but it wouldn’t any other time. The last one would stretch out wind from the edge of the blade. Of course the wind wasn’t as powerful as the blade, but it could do substantial damage if aimed for the eyes or as a nasty surprise. The other sword was a failure. The runes didn’t come together enough to make jack shit.

Oh well. It happened to the best of us.

I was deep in my focus during this time. So much so, that when a firm hand clasped on my shoulder, I almost lost my shit. Turning around, Kessiah was staring at me with a new scar tracing down her cheek. She grinned,

“Yo, I just want to say thanks for the save. I was dead if you didn’t tank that for me.”

I set my new sword down as my armor peeled back, exposing my face. Kessiah let me go as I turned to her.

“Eh, no problem. Thanks for not letting Dakhma fuck us up either.”

She raised an eyebrow, “You look a lot taller…Your only a few inches shorter than me now.”

I hardly reached her chin before. Now I reached just above her nose. The difference was startly in comparison. Kessiah glanced around before pointing somewhere in the distance, “Mind if we talk for a minute?”

I shrugged, “Eh, why not. I need a break anyways.”

We paced out of the camp before I noticed a sentinel stationed nearby. He was tall as the houses beside him, and was probably there to let people evacuate if we were found out. Torix probably told the overseer about Dakhma’s interference.

Having a sentinel guarding us helped keep everyone calm. If our camp and Yawm’s were countries, then that sentinel would be a nuclear deterrent. Yawm was an even bigger nuke than our own. Hell, I couldn’t even think about how we’d figure out a way of clearing out any more of Springfield.

These questions died down as Kessiah closed a car door beside me. Apparently empty car chats were a thing now, so I walked around the car, sitting in the passenger seat. The car’s frame and tires bent under the stress of both us, but it still held us up. I leaned back as Kessiah tapped a window,

“What are these for?”

“To get around. The wheels would turn and get you places.”

“I guess this is pre-space flight technology.”

“Yeh, it’s shitty compared with a spaceship…So what did you want to talk about?”

She put her hands on the wheel, turning it,

“Well, I was wondering if you could explain how you survived that hit from Dakhma. You should be dead.”

I opened my character screen, “Take a look and find out.”

She gasped, “What? 20,000 health before level 300…wow. Gotta admit, I’m impressed.”

I weighed my hands back and forth, “It’s mainly from trees and some other bonuses.”

She nodded. A few awkward seconds passed before she turned to me in a sudden rush, “Look, I want to know how you got so strong as such a low level.”

I leaned back into the car door, “Hmm…My armor, my trees, and my build are what makes me strong. I guess I focused on using what I had, and it all came together overtime?”

She frowned, “That doesn’t tell me jack shit.”

I rolled my eyes, “Alright, you want me to be honest with you?”

“Well duh.”

“You don’t use your strength well. Like, at all.”

She leaned back and crossed her arms, “Really now…What makes you say that?”

I raised a hand, counting on my fingers, “For starters, I’m better at hand to hand combat than you.”

“I could whoop your ass ten times over.”

“But only because your level is higher. If it wasn’t, you wouldn’t be able to beat me.”

Her brow furrowed as I continued, “As I was saying, you can’t fight as well as me. Sure, I’ve had a few years of experience with boxing and I’ve really pushed myself since Schema took over. You should still be able to beat me, easily in fact, when it comes to raw skill. You can’t.”

I shrugged, glancing out the window, “I don’t know why exactly. Maybe I’m super talented. I don’t think that’s it though. I think that maybe, just maybe, you got lazy somewhere down the line. That sort of who-cares-I’m-a-high-level mentality is stopping you from progressing.”

Kessiah turned to face outside with me. She tapped her forearm with a finger for a few seconds, deep in contemplation. After a moment, she uncrossed her arms,

“Ok maybe. Is there anything else?”

I weighed my hands back and forth, “Well, the way you fight isn’t well rounded. You don’t have any range or ways to stop enemies from moving. Enemies like Dakhma will crush you with the way you are.”

I put a palm towards her, “Not saying my way of fighting is perfect either, but you’ve had plenty of time to fix that shit. You decided not to fix it or decided it wasn’t a weakness, I don’t know. It showed itself loud and clear back there though. That’s why you got your ass handed to you.”

Kessiah snapped, “Thanks for reminding me, dipshit.”

I sighed, “You asked, and I answered. You can take it how you want too.”

She sighed back, “Sorry. I just haven’t lost a fight in a while. A really long while.” She cupped her chin. “It might have been before Torix and I had a falling out. Crazy times back then.”

I leaned forward a little, curious as a kid. She flicked my nose, making me lean back. She grinned all of the sudden, “Ha ha! You wanna know about that, don’t you?”

I frowned, “I could be I a little curious.”

Kessiah relaxed a little, “I suppose you earned a little piece of why. Here’s how it went down. Torix had just lost his son. He was devastated and was about to go searching for him. Honestly, I was glad he had. You already noticed, but Torix is a homebody. He never leaves his lair. It makes things stale.”

“You make it sound like you enjoy traveling.”

“I do. I am a remnant after all. We sort of just live on ships that go across the universe. Dakhma mentioned it, but the remnants were a single species before we began splicing our genes. With a bit of telomerization, we can live forever too. It’s pretty awesome, if it wasn’t for Schema.”

She tapped her lip chin, glancing at the roof of the car, “I remember back when I was a kid, I’d run through the tight hallways in my parent’s ship. They’d always scream at me to stop running. I think I did it more for their attention than anything else. Let’s not derail the discussion too much though.”

She situated herself so that she was facing me, “Anyways, I told Torix that he really needed to do was change himself. He thought that his mistake with training Alfred was what made the poor guy leave. I said it was because he was forcing himself on the kid too much. What kind of kid wants to be a undead necromancer when they’re so young?”

“I know I didn’t.”

“Exactly what I’m saying. So Torix went on a rant about how he wanted his son to live up to his potential and all that. I argued that it was Alfred’s life and that he could do what he wanted. Torix said and I quote, ‘You want him to rot just as you are, never using his own powers and amounting to anything more than a wandering leech.”

I grimaced as she continued, “Obviously, I was hurt by that…but looking back, he was right in a lot of ways. Maybe not about his son, but he was right about me. Being a remnant, my genes were made for power. I was born with battle in my blood. I never had to fight to be strong.”

Kessiah stared at me, “That’s why when I look at you and how hard you fight…I can’t help but feel weak in comparison. I’m stronger in body, but weaker in mind, if that makes any sense.”

I nodded, listening as she spoke. It can be hard to not talk with anyone about anything. Sometimes, an open ear is all someone needs. She glanced away and shook her hands,

“Ah fuck, I’m rambling now. You must be bored. Sorry about this.”

I shrugged, “Naw, it’s interesting. I didn’t know much about you and Torix, so it’s nice to hear about this stuff.” I grinned, “Even if it is a bit of a tangent.”

She hit my shoulder, “Yeah yeah, whatever.” She leaned back before stretching her arms out in front of her. “Thanks for listening. I feel way better about all this stuff. My mind’s clear or something like that.”

I tapped her shoulder, “Don’t worry about it. Anytime you need a car-versation, I’ll be ready and waiting.”

Kessiah rolled her eyes before opening the car door, “That was pretty lame.”

“Eh, everyone’s lame sometimes.”

She stepped out of the car, the cool wind outside refreshing us both. I stood outside myself before she smiled wide,

“You ready for Torix’s new plan for clearing out Springfield?”

I raised an eyebrow, “What kind of bullshit did he scrape together?”

She clapped her hands together, “Something exciting.”