Chapter 17
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"Why?" Rahul asked in amusement "What made you change your mind?"
The old man grunted and said "Got nothing else to do."
"Really. That can't be the whole reason right?" Rahul asked.
"You didn't kill me. That's what made me change my mind."
"So my honesty brought you back?" Rahul asked in surprise.
"I've seen a lot of betrayals in back in my time." The old man said and looked into the distance as if remembering some bitter memories. "Truth be told, I was ready to die the moment you caught me. But you not only didn't kill me but also offered me some valuable resources."
"That was a stupid thing to do. But I guess I'm alive because of your stupidity. So…" the old man paused for a moment and said "I'll follow you and your little group. But I have to tell you before anything else, I'm not your servant. I won't go around following your orders."
"That's fine with me." Rahul said. "I see the people in my group as comrades and not as servants anyway. Welcome to the group."
"Wait!" the old said suddenly said. "Although I just said that I got nothing else to do that was not entirely correct."
"You see, I have a son. Though we both never liked each other and haven't been in contact for the past 15 years." The old man paused for moment before he continued. "He's still my son. Though the chances are that he's already… gone, I would still like to make everything sure with my own eyes."
"I understand." Rahul said. "Where does your son live?"
"He lives in Karnera. It should be around…"
"80 kilometers away from Zakopur." Rahul said. "I know where it is. I've been there once before. Small village. Filled with… Animals."
"Why? Something wrong that?" Old man Patel asked when he saw Rahul's face turn ugly.
Rahul stayed silent for a while but I already knew. 'The chances of Old man Patel's son living had just plummeted to zero.'
No ordinary man can survive in the territory of Mutant beasts.
"Grandpa Patel." Rahul said.
"My name is Gaurav. Gaurav Patel. Just call me Gaurav. No one's ever called me grandpa before, so I'm not used to it."
"Alright. Gaurav, you have talked with the AI in your Black watch and already know about Crystals and Abnormals so you must have also known about Mutant beasts right."
"Yes. A little bit. They are something like the animal version of Abnormals right?" Gaurav asked.
"Yes. In a sense they are. But they're far more dangerous than Abnormals." Rahul said "I'm afraid it'll be a bit hard for you to search for your son now."
"Why is that?" Gaurav asked.
"You see. Abnormals and Mutant beasts don't like to live together. Whenever there are a lot mutant beasts and Abnormals in the same area war will always break out. And although most of the times Abnormals overpower them because of their large numbers, in places with lot of animals, the opposite tend to happen." Rahul explained.
"So you're saying that…"
"Mutant beasts like to eat meat. Doesn't matter whether it belongs to Abnormals or humans. When they take over an area, they usually eat anyone and everyone in there. So, I'm afraid it'll be very hard for you to check your son's situation." Rahul spoke in a very calm manner.
It seemed like he was afraid that the old man would break down or something.
But the old man's expression turned even more resolute. He raised his had and said "Regardless of the outcome. I must still go and check. That's the least I can do as a father."
"Very well then." Rahul then turned to look at me and said "The 5 crystals. Did you eat them already?"
'Damn it! I should have.' I felt a slight pain in my heart as I regretted not eating the 5 crystals when I had the chance.
But regardless, I would not lie to Rahul so I took out the 5 crystals and passed it on to him who then passed it on to Gaurav.
This time the old man didn't decline and took them directly and said "I suck at 'thank yous' but, If I survive this journey then I'll definitely repay your kindness." After this, the old man changed the five blue crystals to yellow ones before eating them decisively.
I was a bit surprised when I saw this. 'Without anyone telling him, he already knew that increasing Perception stat before other stats will bring the most benefits. Indeed, having him in our group will definitely be a good thing.'
After this, Rahul went on to give him a lot of information about the situation. They talked for half an hour before Gaurav finally bade us goodbye and left.
"Do you think he'll come back?" I asked as I looked Gaurav disappearing in the woods. I still did not trusted that old man in my heart.
"He might. He might not." Rahul said and shook his head with a smile. "We can only hope now."
Then he closed the door and reinforced it with the heavy boxes. "Let's get some sleep now. We will start moving again at night. We have to cover a lot of distance tomorrow to make up for today's delay."
"Hmm." I nodded and went back to lay in my blanket and held my back before I lost myself in dreamland.
—————
"You'll go right from here and deal with any Abnormal you meet on the way. I'll go to the left and do the same. Remember. Don't go too far. Understand."
"I understand." I said as I looked at the numerous vehicles stranded on the highway.
Although most of the Abnormals inside those vehicle had already got out of them, there were a few which were still caught inside.
Since most of the Abnormals in the nearby area chased after me and left in the afternoon, this was a splendid chance for us to rack in some easy crystals.
We could definitely not let this chance escape out of our hands.
I walked forward and started looking around carefully to find any unlucky abnormals that was still inside his vehicle. But contrary to what I had expected, I had not found any abnormal by the time I had searched 20 vehicles.
When abnormals were not looking for food, they unconsciously start to imitate human actions from their past memories. So after a few days, it was definitely possible for an abnormal to open a car's door or window by chance or mistake.
'Or so Rahul said. Maybe he was right after all. But he also said that not everyone will be so lucky. If I search hard, I definitely get rewarded.' Or so I thought. And my thoughts were finally proven right.
At last, after searching 22 empty vehicles, I found one unlucky one that still had not managed to get out.
'Kukukuku.' I laughed evilly in my mind as I looked at the Abnormal who was still not aware of it's impending doom.
'Now where will you run. My Precious Crystal.'
By the time, I finished the 7th abnormal, I ran into a group of Abnormals who were roaming around the streets, letting out their signature creepy guttural noises.
I suddenly had the impulse to try my luck and attack them but Lily's reminder of my Speed limit brought me back to earth and I wisely choose to retreat.
"How many did you found?" I asked Rahul when he came back. Judging by how long it took him to come back, it seems like he had quite the harvest.
"12" he said.
"How did you get so many of them?" I asked in surprise.
"Why? How many did you get?" he asked.
"I got only 7." I looked at the 7 crystals in my hands and suddenly they seemed to have lost a bit of their shine.
"Don't worry. Here's 6 more." He said and gave me 6 crystals from his pocket.
"Why?" I asked in confusion. We had a rule that we would keep the crystals from the Abnormals we killed. I didn't understood why he would suddenly break the rules.
"5 are for the loan that I took this afternoon and 1 is the interest rate." He smiled and said.
"Oh!" I had almost forgotten the 5 crystals I'd given to Gaurav.
"In that case, I'll only take three. Consider it my contribution to the group." I said and gave 3 of the crystals back to him.
After all, if Gaurav joined the team then all of us will benefit from that.
He didn't refuse and said "Huh! It seems like you act like mature adults sometimes too."
"Give those back if you don't want them." I snapped but in the end, I didn't get anything back.
I looked at the ten multi colored crystals in my hands and after exchanging them I had 8 Green colored and 2 Red colored crystals.
I gulped them down with some water and after the warm sensation faded away, I opened the hologram and checked the interface.
User name:- Ashok Singh Rana
Stats:-
Strength - 1.1 (0.9)
Agility - 1.0 (2.0) - Skill Recuperation Penalty
Endurance - 2.0 (1.2)
Perception - 2.0
Mana - 0.0
Skills:-
Agility Booster (2nd tier)- Skill recuperation time left= 17 hours 53 minutes 28 seconds
Equipments:-
Basic Sword (1st tier)
Wealth:-
2 White Coins
I was happy when I looked at the Endurance stat which had 2.0 points alloted to it now. I was also glad about my Strength Stat which I was finally had the chance to increase.
But that was not what caught most of my attention.
The Agility which had temporarily gone down from 2.0 to 1.0 was being shown in red. And the time counter which was running beside the Agility Booster skill was also something important.
But what caught most of my attention was the (2nd tier) title beside the Agility booster skill.
'Wasn't that supposed to be a 1st tier skill.' I thought.
'It was. But it got upgraded when you used it earlier.' Lily replied.
'Is that so. How was it upgraded?' I asked 'Was it upgraded because I used it once or was their any other reason.'
'It was upgraded because you used it once.' She replied in a bland voice.
'Then isn't that too easy.' I asked.
'Is losing half of your Agility for one whole day an 'easy' thing for you?'
I gulped when I realized that it was indeed not easy to upgrade this skill. If at this point, I ran into a large group of Abnormals, then I won't be able to escape.
'Well, then show me what a 2nd tier skill can do.' I said and Lily complied by opening it's description.
Agility Booster:- User's Agility is increased by 125% for 60 seconds. After use, User's Agility will decrease by half for 12 hours. The skill cannot be used during recuperation time.
Level- Tier 2
'Wow!' I exclaimed in my mind when I saw the new description of the skill.
Not only have the increase in agility increase from 100% to 125%, the time for how long it can be used had doubled from 30 to 60 seconds.
At that was not even the end of it. The total recuperation time had also decreased from 24 hours to 12 hours.
'Oi. Hasn't this skill become a bit usable now.' I said in excitement.
Although I had used this skill once before, I had done so in a moment of desperation and had absolutely no intention of using it again.
But this skill was somewhat usable now. But that not even the most important thing.
The most important thing was how the numbers in the skills changed when it got upgraded.
'If I upgrade it once again the would that mean that I'll be able to use it for 120 seconds with a recuperation time of 6 hours. Oi Lily, answer me.'
'Maybe, though I'm not really sure about it myself.' Lily said.
Then… I became excited as I did some calculations once again. 'If I upgrade it once more, then would I be able to use it for 240 seconds with a recuperation time of 3 hours.'
'I do not know whole upgrade system of the skill either.' Lily said and then added 'But if the skill continue to upgrade as you had just said then you would really become invincible so there must be some other implications when using this skill that we don't know of.'
'Well…' her words once again managed to silence me but even though I didn't wanted to accept it, I felt that her words made sense.
'Well, even if there are some things we might not know about it, this skill is still pretty cool. After I upgrade it a few times it'll only become better and not worse.'
'Well, you won't be wrong in that respect.' Lily said.
'In that case. I've decided.' I said in a voice filled with resolution.
'And what have you decided?' Lily asked in annoyance.
'I've decided that I would use this skill as frequently as possible and increase it to the fullest of my capabilities.'
'That's not a bad idea. But do you even know how much time it takes to increase this skill. And what happens if you meet any danger when the skill is in 'recuperating' state?'
'Well, I guess I'll deal with it somehow.' I said. Although I knew that my plan was a bit absurd and dangerous, I wanted to go through with it. I had a feeling that if I upgrade this skill now then it would be very useful for me later on.
'Suit yourself then.' Lily lazily said and then went silent.
"Are you ready?" At that time Rahul asked. It seems like he was aware that I was having a mental conversation with Lily and decided not to disturb us.
"Yes." I said. 'Although my speed has been decreased by quite a bit, I was still be capable of travelling long distances based on our upgraded Endurance Stat.'
Rahul had also said that increasing the 'Strength' Stat gives a boost to the 'Endurance' and 'Agility' stat so there's that as well.
Rahul took out the map and pointed at our current location.
"We're here. And we need to get to this town by tomorrow morning. It's around 45 kilometers away from here. Would you be able to do it?"
"Definitely." I said with confidence.
"Very well then." Rahul said and kept the map inside his bag "Let's continue on our journey then."
—————
"Be careful." Rahul shouted as we put our back to a large tree. "There are still 3 more left."
"I know." I shouted in pain as I tried to stop the bleeding from my left hand which was missing a large chunk.
'These bastards.' I looked in the darkness and saw three pair of shining eyes constantly moving from one place to another, looking for an opening in our defense.
Then I looked at the two dead corpses lying a few meters ahead of me in the dark.
'Damn it! We almost fell for their ambush this time.' I thought back in fear as I remembered how we were both simultaneously attacked by the five mutant beasts.
'That was really close call. If it had not been for the high perception stat then instead of my left hand, I would have lost my life.
Three hours after we started on our journey we heard the howls and barks of these dogs and realized that we were being pursued. We were vigilant and were prepared for them but after chasing us for two and a half hours, they did not attack us but left instead.
'Or so I thought.'
Rahul had told me that they had not left but had most likely prepared an ambush somewhere ahead in our path and had warned me to stay vigilant.
'I was vigilant. But because my speed stat was still under limitation, I was not able to completely protect myself and got injured.'
At that point Rahul had shown his excellent sword skills and killed two Mutant dogs in quick succession. The other Mutant dogs were deterred but didn't leave and started to circle around us instead.
I took out the Healing spray from Rahul's bag and applied it to my left arm, where a large chunk of flesh was missing.
The bleeding stopped immediately and wound seemed to be slightly healed but I knew that it'll still take a few hours for my hand to heal properly.
I gripped the sword in my right hand tightly and prepared myself for an eventual attack.
Those Mutant dogs knew that I was in a weak state. According to Rahul, they loved to prey on the weak.
They would definitely attack me the next time.
Even if Rahul was very strong, it was unlikely that he'd able to simultaneously stop all three of them at once.
It kept the spray back in his bag and took a deep breath to calm myself down.
After going through a few battles, I knew that the more a person panics during a fight, the more likely he's to die. So no matter how dangerous the situation gets, one must remain calm.
I looked at the three Mutant dogs who had spread out in three different directions by now. One to the left, one to the right and one at the front.
Suddenly, as if they were given some sort of signal all three of them darted forward at once.
'I must kill at least one of them this time.' I made up my mind and turned to face the one on the right.
It opened it jaws wide jumped at me. I remain unperturbed as I looked at it's jaw and suddenly turned my back to him and slashed at the Mutant dog coming from behind me.
Although the swing was not very powerful and was even a bit premature, the sword was very sharp and the Mutant dog that was trying to sneak attack me had it's lower jaw cut off.
Just as I cut off it's jaw, I felt a large force striking against the tracking bag on my back. The strike was very powerful and for a moment I felt as if my spine would break. Thankfully it didn't but I was still thrown a few meters away in the distance.
After I fell, I quickly rolled over a few time and changed my position to face the Mutant dog.
I momentarily glanced at the Mutant dog who had his lower jaw sliced off.
It yelped in pain and fell to the side. Although I knew that it would not die immediately, without a jaw, it would not survive for long either. But I had larger problems to face at this moment.
The mutant dog was running at me with all it's might and although Rahul had finished off the Mutant dog which had attacked him, he was definitely not as fast as them and would not be able to come in time to help me.
I held my sword tightly in front of myself and prayed that I would survive this attack.
The Mutant dog opened it's mouth wide and jumped at me, at the same time, I moved forward and swung my sword with all my might.
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"Why?" Rahul asked in amusement "What made you change your mind?"
The old man grunted and said "Got nothing else to do."
"Really. That can't be the whole reason right?" Rahul asked.
"You didn't kill me. That's what made me change my mind."
"So my honesty brought you back?" Rahul asked in surprise.
"I've seen a lot of betrayals in back in my time." The old man said and looked into the distance as if remembering some bitter memories. "Truth be told, I was ready to die the moment you caught me. But you not only didn't kill me but also offered me some valuable resources."
"That was a stupid thing to do. But I guess I'm alive because of your stupidity. So…" the old man paused for a moment and said "I'll follow you and your little group. But I have to tell you before anything else, I'm not your servant. I won't go around following your orders."
"That's fine with me." Rahul said. "I see the people in my group as comrades and not as servants anyway. Welcome to the group."
"Wait!" the old said suddenly said. "Although I just said that I got nothing else to do that was not entirely correct."
"You see, I have a son. Though we both never liked each other and haven't been in contact for the past 15 years." The old man paused for moment before he continued. "He's still my son. Though the chances are that he's already… gone, I would still like to make everything sure with my own eyes."
"I understand." Rahul said. "Where does your son live?"
"He lives in Karnera. It should be around…"
"80 kilometers away from Zakopur." Rahul said. "I know where it is. I've been there once before. Small village. Filled with… Animals."
"Why? Something wrong that?" Old man Patel asked when he saw Rahul's face turn ugly.
Rahul stayed silent for a while but I already knew. 'The chances of Old man Patel's son living had just plummeted to zero.'
No ordinary man can survive in the territory of Mutant beasts.
"Grandpa Patel." Rahul said.
"My name is Gaurav. Gaurav Patel. Just call me Gaurav. No one's ever called me grandpa before, so I'm not used to it."
"Alright. Gaurav, you have talked with the AI in your Black watch and already know about Crystals and Abnormals so you must have also known about Mutant beasts right."
"Yes. A little bit. They are something like the animal version of Abnormals right?" Gaurav asked.
"Yes. In a sense they are. But they're far more dangerous than Abnormals." Rahul said "I'm afraid it'll be a bit hard for you to search for your son now."
"Why is that?" Gaurav asked.
"You see. Abnormals and Mutant beasts don't like to live together. Whenever there are a lot mutant beasts and Abnormals in the same area war will always break out. And although most of the times Abnormals overpower them because of their large numbers, in places with lot of animals, the opposite tend to happen." Rahul explained.
"So you're saying that…"
"Mutant beasts like to eat meat. Doesn't matter whether it belongs to Abnormals or humans. When they take over an area, they usually eat anyone and everyone in there. So, I'm afraid it'll be very hard for you to check your son's situation." Rahul spoke in a very calm manner.
It seemed like he was afraid that the old man would break down or something.
But the old man's expression turned even more resolute. He raised his had and said "Regardless of the outcome. I must still go and check. That's the least I can do as a father."
"Very well then." Rahul then turned to look at me and said "The 5 crystals. Did you eat them already?"
'Damn it! I should have.' I felt a slight pain in my heart as I regretted not eating the 5 crystals when I had the chance.
But regardless, I would not lie to Rahul so I took out the 5 crystals and passed it on to him who then passed it on to Gaurav.
This time the old man didn't decline and took them directly and said "I suck at 'thank yous' but, If I survive this journey then I'll definitely repay your kindness." After this, the old man changed the five blue crystals to yellow ones before eating them decisively.
I was a bit surprised when I saw this. 'Without anyone telling him, he already knew that increasing Perception stat before other stats will bring the most benefits. Indeed, having him in our group will definitely be a good thing.'
After this, Rahul went on to give him a lot of information about the situation. They talked for half an hour before Gaurav finally bade us goodbye and left.
"Do you think he'll come back?" I asked as I looked Gaurav disappearing in the woods. I still did not trusted that old man in my heart.
"He might. He might not." Rahul said and shook his head with a smile. "We can only hope now."
Then he closed the door and reinforced it with the heavy boxes. "Let's get some sleep now. We will start moving again at night. We have to cover a lot of distance tomorrow to make up for today's delay."
"Hmm." I nodded and went back to lay in my blanket and held my back before I lost myself in dreamland.
—————
"You'll go right from here and deal with any Abnormal you meet on the way. I'll go to the left and do the same. Remember. Don't go too far. Understand."
"I understand." I said as I looked at the numerous vehicles stranded on the highway.
Although most of the Abnormals inside those vehicle had already got out of them, there were a few which were still caught inside.
Since most of the Abnormals in the nearby area chased after me and left in the afternoon, this was a splendid chance for us to rack in some easy crystals.
We could definitely not let this chance escape out of our hands.
I walked forward and started looking around carefully to find any unlucky abnormals that was still inside his vehicle. But contrary to what I had expected, I had not found any abnormal by the time I had searched 20 vehicles.
When abnormals were not looking for food, they unconsciously start to imitate human actions from their past memories. So after a few days, it was definitely possible for an abnormal to open a car's door or window by chance or mistake.
'Or so Rahul said. Maybe he was right after all. But he also said that not everyone will be so lucky. If I search hard, I definitely get rewarded.' Or so I thought. And my thoughts were finally proven right.
At last, after searching 22 empty vehicles, I found one unlucky one that still had not managed to get out.
'Kukukuku.' I laughed evilly in my mind as I looked at the Abnormal who was still not aware of it's impending doom.
'Now where will you run. My Precious Crystal.'
By the time, I finished the 7th abnormal, I ran into a group of Abnormals who were roaming around the streets, letting out their signature creepy guttural noises.
I suddenly had the impulse to try my luck and attack them but Lily's reminder of my Speed limit brought me back to earth and I wisely choose to retreat.
"How many did you found?" I asked Rahul when he came back. Judging by how long it took him to come back, it seems like he had quite the harvest.
"12" he said.
"How did you get so many of them?" I asked in surprise.
"Why? How many did you get?" he asked.
"I got only 7." I looked at the 7 crystals in my hands and suddenly they seemed to have lost a bit of their shine.
"Don't worry. Here's 6 more." He said and gave me 6 crystals from his pocket.
"Why?" I asked in confusion. We had a rule that we would keep the crystals from the Abnormals we killed. I didn't understood why he would suddenly break the rules.
"5 are for the loan that I took this afternoon and 1 is the interest rate." He smiled and said.
"Oh!" I had almost forgotten the 5 crystals I'd given to Gaurav.
"In that case, I'll only take three. Consider it my contribution to the group." I said and gave 3 of the crystals back to him.
After all, if Gaurav joined the team then all of us will benefit from that.
He didn't refuse and said "Huh! It seems like you act like mature adults sometimes too."
"Give those back if you don't want them." I snapped but in the end, I didn't get anything back.
I looked at the ten multi colored crystals in my hands and after exchanging them I had 8 Green colored and 2 Red colored crystals.
I gulped them down with some water and after the warm sensation faded away, I opened the hologram and checked the interface.
User name:- Ashok Singh Rana
Stats:-
Strength - 1.1 (0.9)
Agility - 1.0 (2.0) - Skill Recuperation Penalty
Endurance - 2.0 (1.2)
Perception - 2.0
Mana - 0.0
Skills:-
Agility Booster (2nd tier)- Skill recuperation time left= 17 hours 53 minutes 28 seconds
Equipments:-
Basic Sword (1st tier)
Wealth:-
2 White Coins
I was happy when I looked at the Endurance stat which had 2.0 points alloted to it now. I was also glad about my Strength Stat which I was finally had the chance to increase.
But that was not what caught most of my attention.
The Agility which had temporarily gone down from 2.0 to 1.0 was being shown in red. And the time counter which was running beside the Agility Booster skill was also something important.
But what caught most of my attention was the (2nd tier) title beside the Agility booster skill.
'Wasn't that supposed to be a 1st tier skill.' I thought.
'It was. But it got upgraded when you used it earlier.' Lily replied.
'Is that so. How was it upgraded?' I asked 'Was it upgraded because I used it once or was their any other reason.'
'It was upgraded because you used it once.' She replied in a bland voice.
'Then isn't that too easy.' I asked.
'Is losing half of your Agility for one whole day an 'easy' thing for you?'
I gulped when I realized that it was indeed not easy to upgrade this skill. If at this point, I ran into a large group of Abnormals, then I won't be able to escape.
'Well, then show me what a 2nd tier skill can do.' I said and Lily complied by opening it's description.
Agility Booster:- User's Agility is increased by 125% for 60 seconds. After use, User's Agility will decrease by half for 12 hours. The skill cannot be used during recuperation time.
Level- Tier 2
'Wow!' I exclaimed in my mind when I saw the new description of the skill.
Not only have the increase in agility increase from 100% to 125%, the time for how long it can be used had doubled from 30 to 60 seconds.
At that was not even the end of it. The total recuperation time had also decreased from 24 hours to 12 hours.
'Oi. Hasn't this skill become a bit usable now.' I said in excitement.
Although I had used this skill once before, I had done so in a moment of desperation and had absolutely no intention of using it again.
But this skill was somewhat usable now. But that not even the most important thing.
The most important thing was how the numbers in the skills changed when it got upgraded.
'If I upgrade it once again the would that mean that I'll be able to use it for 120 seconds with a recuperation time of 6 hours. Oi Lily, answer me.'
'Maybe, though I'm not really sure about it myself.' Lily said.
Then… I became excited as I did some calculations once again. 'If I upgrade it once more, then would I be able to use it for 240 seconds with a recuperation time of 3 hours.'
'I do not know whole upgrade system of the skill either.' Lily said and then added 'But if the skill continue to upgrade as you had just said then you would really become invincible so there must be some other implications when using this skill that we don't know of.'
'Well…' her words once again managed to silence me but even though I didn't wanted to accept it, I felt that her words made sense.
'Well, even if there are some things we might not know about it, this skill is still pretty cool. After I upgrade it a few times it'll only become better and not worse.'
'Well, you won't be wrong in that respect.' Lily said.
'In that case. I've decided.' I said in a voice filled with resolution.
'And what have you decided?' Lily asked in annoyance.
'I've decided that I would use this skill as frequently as possible and increase it to the fullest of my capabilities.'
'That's not a bad idea. But do you even know how much time it takes to increase this skill. And what happens if you meet any danger when the skill is in 'recuperating' state?'
'Well, I guess I'll deal with it somehow.' I said. Although I knew that my plan was a bit absurd and dangerous, I wanted to go through with it. I had a feeling that if I upgrade this skill now then it would be very useful for me later on.
'Suit yourself then.' Lily lazily said and then went silent.
"Are you ready?" At that time Rahul asked. It seems like he was aware that I was having a mental conversation with Lily and decided not to disturb us.
"Yes." I said. 'Although my speed has been decreased by quite a bit, I was still be capable of travelling long distances based on our upgraded Endurance Stat.'
Rahul had also said that increasing the 'Strength' Stat gives a boost to the 'Endurance' and 'Agility' stat so there's that as well.
Rahul took out the map and pointed at our current location.
"We're here. And we need to get to this town by tomorrow morning. It's around 45 kilometers away from here. Would you be able to do it?"
"Definitely." I said with confidence.
"Very well then." Rahul said and kept the map inside his bag "Let's continue on our journey then."
—————
"Be careful." Rahul shouted as we put our back to a large tree. "There are still 3 more left."
"I know." I shouted in pain as I tried to stop the bleeding from my left hand which was missing a large chunk.
'These bastards.' I looked in the darkness and saw three pair of shining eyes constantly moving from one place to another, looking for an opening in our defense.
Then I looked at the two dead corpses lying a few meters ahead of me in the dark.
'Damn it! We almost fell for their ambush this time.' I thought back in fear as I remembered how we were both simultaneously attacked by the five mutant beasts.
'That was really close call. If it had not been for the high perception stat then instead of my left hand, I would have lost my life.
Three hours after we started on our journey we heard the howls and barks of these dogs and realized that we were being pursued. We were vigilant and were prepared for them but after chasing us for two and a half hours, they did not attack us but left instead.
'Or so I thought.'
Rahul had told me that they had not left but had most likely prepared an ambush somewhere ahead in our path and had warned me to stay vigilant.
'I was vigilant. But because my speed stat was still under limitation, I was not able to completely protect myself and got injured.'
At that point Rahul had shown his excellent sword skills and killed two Mutant dogs in quick succession. The other Mutant dogs were deterred but didn't leave and started to circle around us instead.
I took out the Healing spray from Rahul's bag and applied it to my left arm, where a large chunk of flesh was missing.
The bleeding stopped immediately and wound seemed to be slightly healed but I knew that it'll still take a few hours for my hand to heal properly.
I gripped the sword in my right hand tightly and prepared myself for an eventual attack.
Those Mutant dogs knew that I was in a weak state. According to Rahul, they loved to prey on the weak.
They would definitely attack me the next time.
Even if Rahul was very strong, it was unlikely that he'd able to simultaneously stop all three of them at once.
It kept the spray back in his bag and took a deep breath to calm myself down.
After going through a few battles, I knew that the more a person panics during a fight, the more likely he's to die. So no matter how dangerous the situation gets, one must remain calm.
I looked at the three Mutant dogs who had spread out in three different directions by now. One to the left, one to the right and one at the front.
Suddenly, as if they were given some sort of signal all three of them darted forward at once.
'I must kill at least one of them this time.' I made up my mind and turned to face the one on the right.
It opened it jaws wide jumped at me. I remain unperturbed as I looked at it's jaw and suddenly turned my back to him and slashed at the Mutant dog coming from behind me.
Although the swing was not very powerful and was even a bit premature, the sword was very sharp and the Mutant dog that was trying to sneak attack me had it's lower jaw cut off.
Just as I cut off it's jaw, I felt a large force striking against the tracking bag on my back. The strike was very powerful and for a moment I felt as if my spine would break. Thankfully it didn't but I was still thrown a few meters away in the distance.
After I fell, I quickly rolled over a few time and changed my position to face the Mutant dog.
I momentarily glanced at the Mutant dog who had his lower jaw sliced off.
It yelped in pain and fell to the side. Although I knew that it would not die immediately, without a jaw, it would not survive for long either. But I had larger problems to face at this moment.
The mutant dog was running at me with all it's might and although Rahul had finished off the Mutant dog which had attacked him, he was definitely not as fast as them and would not be able to come in time to help me.
I held my sword tightly in front of myself and prayed that I would survive this attack.
The Mutant dog opened it's mouth wide and jumped at me, at the same time, I moved forward and swung my sword with all my might.
"Why?" Rahul asked in amusement "What made you change your mind?"The old man grunted and said "Got nothing else to do.""Really. That can't be the whole reason right?" Rahul asked."You didn't kill me. That's what made me change my mind.""So my honesty brought you back?" Rahul asked in surprise."I've seen a lot of betrayals in back in my time." The old man said and looked into the distance as if remembering some bitter memories. "Truth be told, I was ready to die the moment you caught me. But you not only didn't kill me but also offered me some valuable resources.""That was a stupid thing to do. But I guess I'm alive because of your stupidity. So" the old man paused for a moment and said "I'll follow you and your little group. But I have to tell you before anything else, I'm not your servant. I won't go around following your orders.""That's fine with me." Rahul said. "I see the people in my group as comrades and not as servants anyway. Welcome to the group.""Wait!" the old said suddenly said. "Although I just said that I got nothing else to do that was not entirely correct.""You see, I have a son. Though we both never liked each other and haven't been in contact for the past 15 years." The old man paused for moment before he continued. "He's still my son. Though the chances are that he's already gone, I would still like to make everything sure with my own eyes.""I understand." Rahul said. "Where does your son live?""He lives in Karnera. It should be around""80 kilometers away from Zakopur." Rahul said. "I know where it is. I've been there once before. Small village. Filled with Animals.""Why? Something wrong that?" Old man Patel asked when he saw Rahul's face turn ugly.Rahul stayed silent for a while but I already knew. 'The chances of Old man Patel's son living had just plummeted to zero.'No ordinary man can survive in the territory of Mutant beasts."Grandpa Patel." Rahul said."My name is Gaurav. Gaurav Patel. Just call me Gaurav. No one's ever called me grandpa before, so I'm not used to it.""Alright. Gaurav, you have talked with the AI in your Black watch and already know about Crystals and Abnormals so you must have also known about Mutant beasts right.""Yes. A little bit. They are something like the animal version of Abnormals right?" Gaurav asked."Yes. In a sense they are. But they're far more dangerous than Abnormals." Rahul said "I'm afraid it'll be a bit hard for you to search for your son now.""Why is that?" Gaurav asked."You see. Abnormals and Mutant beasts don't like to live together. Whenever there are a lot mutant beasts and Abnormals in the same area war will always break out. And although most of the times Abnormals overpower them because of their large numbers, in places with lot of animals, the opposite tend to happen." Rahul explained."So you're saying that""Mutant beasts like to eat meat. Doesn't matter whether it belongs to Abnormals or humans. When they take over an area, they usually eat anyone and everyone in there. So, I'm afraid it'll be very hard for you to check your son's situation." Rahul spoke in a very calm manner.It seemed like he was afraid that the old man would break down or something.But the old man's expression turned even more resolute. He raised his had and said "Regardless of the outcome. I must still go and check. That's the least I can do as a father.""Very well then." Rahul then turned to look at me and said "The 5 crystals. Did you eat them already?"'Damn it! I should have.' I felt a slight pain in my heart as I regretted not eating the 5 crystals when I had the chance.But regardless, I would not lie to Rahul so I took out the 5 crystals and passed it on to him who then passed it on to Gaurav.This time the old man didn't decline and took them directly and said "I suck at 'thank yous' but, If I survive this journey then I'll definitely repay your kindness." After this, the old man changed the five blue crystals to yellow ones before eating them decisively.I was a bit surprised when I saw this. 'Without anyone telling him, he already knew that increasing Perception stat before other stats will bring the most benefits. Indeed, having him in our group will definitely be a good thing.'After this, Rahul went on to give him a lot of information about the situation. They talked for half an hour before Gaurav finally bade us goodbye and left."Do you think he'll come back?" I asked as I looked Gaurav disappearing in the woods. I still did not trusted that old man in my heart."He might. He might not." Rahul said and shook his head with a smile. "We can only hope now."Then he closed the door and reinforced it with the heavy boxes. "Let's get some sleep now. We will start moving again at night. We have to cover a lot of distance tomorrow to make up for today's delay.""Hmm." I nodded and went back to lay in my blanket and held my back before I lost myself in dreamland."You'll go right from here and deal with any Abnormal you meet on the way. I'll go to the left and do the same. Remember. Don't go too far. Understand.""I understand." I said as I looked at the numerous vehicles stranded on the highway.Although most of the Abnormals inside those vehicle had already got out of them, there were a few which were still caught inside.Since most of the Abnormals in the nearby area chased after me and left in the afternoon, this was a splendid chance for us to rack in some easy crystals.We could definitely not let this chance escape out of our hands.I walked forward and started looking around carefully to find any unlucky abnormals that was still inside his vehicle. But contrary to what I had expected, I had not found any abnormal by the time I had searched 20 vehicles.When abnormals were not looking for food, they unconsciously start to imitate human actions from their past memories. So after a few days, it was definitely possible for an abnormal to open a car's door or window by chance or mistake.'Or so Rahul said. Maybe he was right after all. But he also said that not everyone will be so lucky. If I search hard, I definitely get rewarded.' Or so I thought. And my thoughts were finally proven right.At last, after searching 22 empty vehicles, I found one unlucky one that still had not managed to get out.'Kukukuku.' I laughed evilly in my mind as I looked at the Abnormal who was still not aware of it's impending doom.'Now where will you run. My Precious Crystal.'By the time, I finished the 7th abnormal, I ran into a group of Abnormals who were roaming around the streets, letting out their signature creepy guttural noises.I suddenly had the impulse to try my luck and attack them but Lily's reminder of my Speed limit brought me back to earth and I wisely choose to retreat."How many did you found?" I asked Rahul when he came back. Judging by how long it took him to come back, it seems like he had quite the harvest."12" he said."How did you get so many of them?" I asked in surprise."Why? How many did you get?" he asked."I got only 7." I looked at the 7 crystals in my hands and suddenly they seemed to have lost a bit of their shine."Don't worry. Here's 6 more." He said and gave me 6 crystals from his pocket."Why?" I asked in confusion. We had a rule that we would keep the crystals from the Abnormals we killed. I didn't understood why he would suddenly break the rules."5 are for the loan that I took this afternoon and 1 is the interest rate." He smiled and said."Oh!" I had almost forgotten the 5 crystals I'd given to Gaurav."In that case, I'll only take three. Consider it my contribution to the group." I said and gave 3 of the crystals back to him.After all, if Gaurav joined the team then all of us will benefit from that.He didn't refuse and said "Huh! It seems like you act like mature adults sometimes too.""Give those back if you don't want them." I snapped but in the end, I didn't get anything back.I looked at the ten multi colored crystals in my hands and after exchanging them I had 8 Green colored and 2 Red colored crystals.I gulped them down with some water and after the warm sensation faded away, I opened the hologram and checked the interface.User name:- Ashok Singh RanaStats:-Strength - 1.1 0.9Agility - 1.0 2.0 - Skill Recuperation PenaltyEndurance - 2.0 1.2Perception - 2.0Mana - 0.0Skills:-Agility Booster 2nd tier- Skill recuperation time left= 17 hours 53 minutes 28 secondsEquipments:-Basic Sword 1st tierWealth:-2 White CoinsI was happy when I looked at the Endurance stat which had 2.0 points alloted to it now. I was also glad about my Strength Stat which I was finally had the chance to increase.But that was not what caught most of my attention.The Agility which had temporarily gone down from 2.0 to 1.0 was being shown in red. And the time counter which was running beside the Agility Booster skill was also something important.But what caught most of my attention was the 2nd tier title beside the Agility booster skill.'Wasn't that supposed to be a 1st tier skill.' I thought.'It was. But it got upgraded when you used it earlier.' Lily replied.'Is that so. How was it upgraded?' I asked 'Was it upgraded because I used it once or was their any other reason.''It was upgraded because you used it once.' She replied in a bland voice.'Then isn't that too easy.' I asked.'Is losing half of your Agility for one whole day an 'easy' thing for you?'I gulped when I realized that it was indeed not easy to upgrade this skill. If at this point, I ran into a large group of Abnormals, then I won't be able to escape.'Well, then show me what a 2nd tier skill can do.' I said and Lily complied by opening it's description.Agility Booster:- User's Agility is increased by 125% for 60 seconds. After use, User's Agility will decrease by half for 12 hours. The skill cannot be used during recuperation time.Level- Tier 2'Wow!' I exclaimed in my mind when I saw the new description of the skill.Not only have the increase in agility increase from 100% to 125%, the time for how long it can be used had doubled from 30 to 60 seconds.At that was not even the end of it. The total recuperation time had also decreased from 24 hours to 12 hours.'Oi. Hasn't this skill become a bit usable now.' I said in excitement.Although I had used this skill once before, I had done so in a moment of desperation and had absolutely no intention of using it again.But this skill was somewhat usable now. But that not even the most important thing.The most important thing was how the numbers in the skills changed when it got upgraded.'If I upgrade it once again the would that mean that I'll be able to use it for 120 seconds with a recuperation time of 6 hours. Oi Lily, answer me.''Maybe, though I'm not really sure about it myself.' Lily said.Then I became excited as I did some calculations once again. 'If I upgrade it once more, then would I be able to use it for 240 seconds with a recuperation time of 3 hours.''I do not know whole upgrade system of the skill either.' Lily said and then added 'But if the skill continue to upgrade as you had just said then you would really become invincible so there must be some other implications when using this skill that we don't know of.''Well' her words once again managed to silence me but even though I didn't wanted to accept it, I felt that her words made sense.'Well, even if there are some things we might not know about it, this skill is still pretty cool. After I upgrade it a few times it'll only become better and not worse.''Well, you won't be wrong in that respect.' Lily said.'In that case. I've decided.' I said in a voice filled with resolution.'And what have you decided?' Lily asked in annoyance.'I've decided that I would use this skill as frequently as possible and increase it to the fullest of my capabilities.''That's not a bad idea. But do you even know how much time it takes to increase this skill. And what happens if you meet any danger when the skill is in 'recuperating' state?''Well, I guess I'll deal with it somehow.' I said. Although I knew that my plan was a bit absurd and dangerous, I wanted to go through with it. I had a feeling that if I upgrade this skill now then it would be very useful for me later on.'Suit yourself then.' Lily lazily said and then went silent."Are you ready?" At that time Rahul asked. It seems like he was aware that I was having a mental conversation with Lily and decided not to disturb us."Yes." I said. 'Although my speed has been decreased by quite a bit, I was still be capable of travelling long distances based on our upgraded Endurance Stat.'Rahul had also said that increasing the 'Strength' Stat gives a boost to the 'Endurance' and 'Agility' stat so there's that as well.Rahul took out the map and pointed at our current location."We're here. And we need to get to this town by tomorrow morning. It's around 45 kilometers away from here. Would you be able to do it?""Definitely." I said with confidence."Very well then." Rahul said and kept the map inside his bag "Let's continue on our journey then.""Be careful." Rahul shouted as we put our back to a large tree. "There are still 3 more left.""I know." I shouted in pain as I tried to stop the bleeding from my left hand which was missing a large chunk.'These bastards.' I looked in the darkness and saw three pair of shining eyes constantly moving from one place to another, looking for an opening in our defense.Then I looked at the two dead corpses lying a few meters ahead of me in the dark.'Damn it! We almost fell for their ambush this time.' I thought back in fear as I remembered how we were both simultaneously attacked by the five mutant beasts.'That was really close call. If it had not been for the high perception stat then instead of my left hand, I would have lost my life.Three hours after we started on our journey we heard the howls and barks of these dogs and realized that we were being pursued. We were vigilant and were prepared for them but after chasing us for two and a half hours, they did not attack us but left instead.'Or so I thought.'Rahul had told me that they had not left but had most likely prepared an ambush somewhere ahead in our path and had warned me to stay vigilant.'I was vigilant. But because my speed stat was still under limitation, I was not able to completely protect myself and got injured.'At that point Rahul had shown his excellent sword skills and killed two Mutant dogs in quick succession. The other Mutant dogs were deterred but didn't leave and started to circle around us instead.I took out the Healing spray from Rahul's bag and applied it to my left arm, where a large chunk of flesh was missing.The bleeding stopped immediately and wound seemed to be slightly healed but I knew that it'll still take a few hours for my hand to heal properly.I gripped the sword in my right hand tightly and prepared myself for an eventual attack.Those Mutant dogs knew that I was in a weak state. According to Rahul, they loved to prey on the weak.They would definitely attack me the next time.Even if Rahul was very strong, it was unlikely that he'd able to simultaneously stop all three of them at once.It kept the spray back in his bag and took a deep breath to calm myself down.After going through a few battles, I knew that the more a person panics during a fight, the more likely he's to die. So no matter how dangerous the situation gets, one must remain calm.I looked at the three Mutant dogs who had spread out in three different directions by now. One to the left, one to the right and one at the front.Suddenly, as if they were given some sort of signal all three of them darted forward at once.'I must kill at least one of them this time.' I made up my mind and turned to face the one on the right.It opened it jaws wide jumped at me. I remain unperturbed as I looked at it's jaw and suddenly turned my back to him and slashed at the Mutant dog coming from behind me.Although the swing was not very powerful and was even a bit premature, the sword was very sharp and the Mutant dog that was trying to sneak attack me had it's lower jaw cut off.Just as I cut off it's jaw, I felt a large force striking against the tracking bag on my back. The strike was very powerful and for a moment I felt as if my spine would break. Thankfully it didn't but I was still thrown a few meters away in the distance.After I fell, I quickly rolled over a few time and changed my position to face the Mutant dog.I momentarily glanced at the Mutant dog who had his lower jaw sliced off.It yelped in pain and fell to the side. Although I knew that it would not die immediately, without a jaw, it would not survive for long either. But I had larger problems to face at this moment.The mutant dog was running at me with all it's might and although Rahul had finished off the Mutant dog which had attacked him, he was definitely not as fast as them and would not be able to come in time to help me.I held my sword tightly in front of myself and prayed that I would survive this attack.The Mutant dog opened it's mouth wide and jumped at me, at the same time, I moved forward and swung my sword with all my might.
