Chapter 101: Journey

Chapter 101: Journey "I’ll go with anything they say. I don’t have anything specific."

Richard said and August suddenly had the urge to facepalm deeply.

’I forgot what a dead set I picked. Why the fuck was I greedy!’

Veins popped up on his forehead covered with his long hair as he fought the urge to pull his hair out or slap some sense into the odd mix of recruits he picked out of greed and curiosity without considering their compatibility.

’What’s done is done. No point crying over spilt milk, it was worth it in some ways. It must be!’

August glanced at the three of them and they suddenly had a feeling of dread wash over them with shivers going down their spine as they noticed the batshit crazy look in their normally crazy instructor’s eyes.

’The fuck is this bastard thinking of this time?!’

Richard suppressed his beating heart, mirroring the thoughts of the other two.

’I should double their training! No, that’s too easy, I should triple it. Yes! That sounds about right! No way I’m losing to her!’

August failed to suppress the crazy aura that leaked out of him while he spiraled down his world of thoughts.

"Ahem!"

Kieran’s small cough which resounded loudly in the small and quiet room brought August back to reality as his cheeks reddened in embarrassment.

Luckily, Kieran and the other’s weren’t aware of this as his mask and messy hair obscured most of his face and he was saved from further embarrassment.

Not willing to be in that awkward position any longer, he cleared his throat in a louder manner and moved on immediately.

"Well, while I am dissatisfied with your lack of action, it seems I was a little mistaken, considering that you had all come to a conclusion beforehand which I had to say was rather surprising considering...."

He let the last part drag out as he swept his eyes across them.

Kieran had to agree with him though. He was surprised at how quickly they had all taken up his offer, especially Richard whom he expected some sort of resistance from.

"The mission is supposed to be a quick one. Clear out the herd of monsters and retrieve any beast cores you can find along with the other specified materials in the description."

"....."

"It shouldn’t take you more than 3 days!"

’Good! He agreed!’

Kieran almost let out a sigh of relief hearing the time August had given.

CLAP! CLAP!!

"That’s all, you’re dismissed. Leave, Kieran stay back!"

Richard gave Kieran a look from the side of his eyes at this order from August.

’Just what do you think you’re doing, commoner idiot?’

Richard withdrew his gaze which was now getting hostile and left the room followed at the neck by Derrick who gave Kieran a shirt nod before disappearing.

He was himself as long as August wasn’t involved — calm, composed and underestimated.

"What about you? Should you even be a part of this mission?"

August questioned

"Why not? I can handle myself!"

The question brought a sour taste to Kieran’s mouth.

"You can’t be so sure if you suddenly black out."

August went ahead to state the obvious and Kieran for a moment didn’t have anything to say back to the instructor. He was right after all.

"Still not enough reason."

The tone in his voice was flat as always, but August could feel the dissatisfaction and determination within it.

’Good, Good!’

He thought while hiding a smile.

"Alright. I’ll be here if you need any help before tomorrow. Dismissed!"

August said before dismissing the recruit.

Walking away from the building, Kieran thought of what the instructor had said, but quickly brushed it to the side.

He couldn’t be bothered about the things he had no understanding of and no solution to. He had a plan to create and execute against tomorrow, now that all parties were on board with him.

.....

The next morning, Kieran was all geared up with his scythe and an authorized laser gun he had gotten from the camp for the sake of this mission.

He also had a backpack full of supplies, at least 3 days worth. He had learned from his first mission experience with Ruby.

While awakened like them could resist their hunger for a while, and while he bore some similar qualities to the awakened like abnormal physical strength, he wasn’t awakened yet. At least not fully, so he was still subject to his hunger.

After the lost fight with the Godzilla-like creature, Kieran had woken up like there was a bottomless pit in his stomach. One that had been filled up with the flesh he ate from the beast.

One month and a few weeks after and he still hadn’t internalized the bulk of energy that was flowing freely through his body.

After a series of proper trails, Kieran had been able to conclude that it actually didn’t serve the purpose of being an extra battery he couldn’t depend on when he ran out of stamina.

That only happened in dire cases. It felt weird, like it had a mind of its own letting him use it like at the right time.

Other than that. He made another interesting discovery. The technique "Lost Origins" seemed to have some effects when it came to mobilizing this energy as he felt it get absorbed by him little by little whenever he practiced the exercises stored within and the other meditation and breathing techniques.

He felt the chill sensation as it seeped into his bones slowly. He had a feeling that he hadn’t done enough to see the results yet, but it was there calling to him the more he absorbed it.

’Could that be the reason? No, I already tried that’

Kieran thought back to his blacking out issue, but he was distracted by the arrival of Richard and Derrick who spent no time moving to the exit gate after locating him.

"Pass?"

The soldier at the gate asked for their tags which they handed to him.

He scanned the 3 tags and confirmed that they were indeed on a mission before letting them pass through the gate, out of the camp.

It was no longer his first time coming out of the camp, but the view of the camp from the outside still amazed him each time, especially when he thought of how they managed to fit themselves into the mountain range. It was an ingenious idea, no matter how he thought of it.

RUMBLE!!

The deep roll of thunder distracted him from the camp behind him and he noticed the now dark skies. Skies that had been completely clear a few moments ago.

’How inconvenient!’

Kieran’s face darkened as he looked at the sky which seemed like it would cry heavily anytime soon.

"We have to move fast, they left yesterday and it’s hard enough to track them while it’s this dark, not to imagine when the rain falls."

Kieran said, urging them to start moving.

"I’ve set a course for the northern part of XA-24. Sharing it now!"

Derrick commented from the side and Kieran nodded, strapping his scythe to his back properly and taking a quick look at his watch — the location Derrick had marked and shared to them.

"Sigh!"

Letting out a deep breath, the three of them broke into a full sprint, under the cover of the dark skies which had slowly started to tear a little.

Unlike what they had shown the soldier at the entrance, Kieran, Derrick and Rucahrd had no intention of going for the basic bunting and material gathering mission they had picked.

No, their aim was the level 6 mission he had overheard the group speak about.

But why go for a mission like that? The success rate was too low even for those above them and if they somehow managed to complete the mission where everyone else failed, they weren’t going to be rewarded as they were technically going against regulations.

Pit pat

As the rain dropped and slid off his jacket and wet his hair, Kieran looked up and sped up significantly, the other two doing the same a moment later.

The course for XA-24 was about a half a day’s worth of running at full speed, but they had to leave the open field they were in right now to a place where they could take cover from the rain when it started pouring.

Kieran wasn’t too worried about not catching up to the team he had overheard this information from.

They were a large team traveling together, so their movement was definitely going to be slower than just the 3 of them.

"Your left!"

Derrick’s voice reached Kieran and his body leaned forward, tilting himself to the side as he dodged the monster that had popped out of nowhere and his hand found his laser gun, shooting a few rounds at the monster’s underside killing it before resuming their run.

All this happened in one smooth motion without interrupting their pace