The mist wrapped itself around the paths like a big cloud but this time it felt kind of nice. Kaito and Revenant had left Rusthaven at night going northwest to the Fractured Spires. These are broken towers that people say have secret places where the anti-broker groups live. It had stopped raining much and now it was just a little drip. The air had a smell, like metal from the Nodes that were far away. The Nodes were just sitting there full of energy that nobody was using. Kaito and Revenant were heading to the Fractured Spires. The mist was all, around them.
Revenant led the way her steps were silent and sure the violet tattoos on her body were pulsing faintly under her cloak. Revenant did not talk much. The silence between them was not hostile. The health points of Kaito had climbed up to 120 out of 180 thanks to the patch that Revenant had put on him though every single muscle, in Kaitos body still ached a lot like he had been run through a grinder.
She said this after a while looking back at me. "The way you fight is like you learned it from books " she told me. "You do everything right but it is very easy to guess what you will do next. When you are at Layer 0 it does not matter how much you know from books because it is not, about that. Layer 0 is different it does not reward people who just know the theory of fighting.
Kaito snorted, adjusting his grip on the dagger. " Home I used to fence just for fun. I was in tournaments. I had these really nice polished foils. This”. He looked around at the mud over the place in the wilderness. "This is totally different. This is like trying to survive in a bad dream. The dagger in my hand is not for fun. It is, for survival."
She. For a moment her eyes showed a little bit of interest. "Transfer huh" she said. "I have heard stories, about it. People talk about worlds where you do not have to worry about debt. That sounds really easy I think. Transfer sounds like a good thing to me."
"Soft?" Kaito said and then he let out a laugh that was not really funny. "Maybe it was soft " Kaito said. ". The corporate world had its own rough parts. You had to climb the ladder and go to meeting, after meeting. At least when someone betrayed you at a company they usually gave you some money when they let you go.
They walked over a hill and the path got wider opening up into a calm valley. This valley had fungi that gave off a soft light. It was really pretty. There were no hunters following them yet. Shades mark was still working,. It did not seem as strong because they were far away. Kaito felt a bit of peace for the first time since he got to Layer 0. He heard birds or things that sounded like birds making noise in the bushes. Revenant gave him a food bar it was a kind of protein that was not very tasty but it filled his stomach. The food bar was, like eating cardboard. He was hungry so he ate it anyway.
She said that ahead there is a safe Node. We can go there to recharge and make a plan to attack Shades supply lines. Are you going to be with us for the thing or just for a little while? We are talking about a game here so you need to think about that before you decide if you are, in or not.
Kaito looked at her. "I am all in. He took my win. I will take Kaitos win from him. Kaito will take his win back."
The ground started shaking hard. A deep rumbling noise went through the valley. It sounded a lot like thunder.
These people came out of nowhere. They were standing at the edge of the trees: a group of humans with five looking people wearing leather armor with spikes. They were riding on top of mutated animals. These animals were really ugly. Had bodies like wolves but they also had hard plates on them and their eyes were glowing red because of the Node. One of the people on the animals held up a stick with horns on it. Was yelling orders in a language that was hard to understand. Then the animals started running towards us tearing up the ground with their claws. The humans were still, on the animals and the animals were still really scary. The humans and the mutated beasts were coming straight for us.
"Ambush!" Revenant shouted. Her violet whip came out from her sleeve. "Those Node raiders must have found your mark!"
Kaito pulled out his dagger and his heart started beating fast. He did not have time to think about what to do. The big beast in front of him jumped at him its mouth open wide. Kaito quickly moved to the side. Swung his dagger, at the beasts side. He managed to cut it a bit but the beast did not seem to care. The beast barely flinched when Kaito cut it. Kaito was still holding his dagger. He was getting ready to defend himself again.
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【Damage Dealt: Minor】
【EXP Gained: 15】
The Revenant was like a storm. She moved fast and her sword cut through one of the bad guys horses. At the time this purple energy came out and made another bad guy drop his weapon.. These bad guys were working together. Two of their animals went around Kaito making it hard for him to get back to the Revenant. Then one of the guys, who was like a scavenger threw a net with spikes, on it. The net got all tangled up in Kaitos legs. Pulled him to the ground.
HP: 120/180 → 95/180.
He scrambled up. Then a beasts paw slammed into his chest and cracked his ribs. This really hurt. His health points went down a lot: 95 out of 180 became 52 out of 180. The world started spinning around him. Another bad guy got off his horse holding his axe up high. Kaito tried to block the blow with his dagger. It was not a very strong block. The metal made a loud noise when they hit and the force of the blow made Kaito fall to his knees.
The raider said this in a way: "That was a really bad transfer." He was talking about Shades bounty. The raider said "We will take your core and sell the pieces that are left."
The axe came down hard. Kaito tried to get out of the way. It still hit his shoulder. It was a cut and blood was flowing out everywhere. Kaitos health was bad now: it went from 52 out of 180 to 12 out of 180. The warning signs were flashing red which was really bad. The axe had done a lot of damage, to Kaito.
【HP Critical: Death Imminent (15 sec)】
He fell into the mud. His vision started to go away. He could still hear Revenant shouting. It sounded really far away. There were flashes of light and the sound of animals screaming.. The bad people were too strong, for him. Their claws scratched his back. Their fists hit him over and over. The Revenant and the bad people and the animals all got mixed up together in his mind. All he could feel was pain.
In the haze memories came back to him. He thought about his life. The big apartment in Tokyo was really nice. It had windows that went from the floor to the ceiling and he could see the whole city. He remembered making deals in meeting rooms and celebrating with champagne. He had friends, not people who owed him money. He had family dinners. They were always laughing. His fiancée was a person and when she smiled it made everyone feel happy. He had cars and suits that were made just for him. He was a person because of who he knew, not just because he had to fight to survive. Memories of his life in Tokyo kept coming back, to him.
Everything is gone. It all got taken away in that bright light the transfer. Now I am waking up in the place of Layer 0 and I am stuck with a lot of debt. There is no way to make things go back, to how they were. I do not have any options to say this is not fair. The life of Layer 0 is a never ending struggle people doing bad things to each other and a lot of blood.
Why did this have to happen to me? The thought just kept screaming in my head. I had a life I really did. I had everything I needed. Now I have nothing all.
The darkness was really closing in on me. My health was very low. HP: 1/180. I was, out of health. The darkness was getting worse.
Then—nothing.
…
Kaito woke up to complete silence. He was in a lot of pain over his body. His ribs felt like they were on fire and his shoulder was numb and hurt a lot. He used his arms to push himself up. They were shaking really badly. The mud under his hands was sucking at his palms. There were bodies, over the valley. The bad people who had attacked them were dead and the big animals were lying on the ground too. The Revenant was standing near him cleaning her knife and breathing hard but she did not look hurt at all.
He looked at me. Said "You saved me again?" in a really weak voice. He could hardly stand up. His legs were shaking over the place. He had to hold onto a fungus to stay up. His health was really low it said HP: 5/180 and it was going up slowly which was really frustrating.
She shook her head. "I am barely holding on. You went down fast. You are the link."
Humiliation felt really bad. It mixed with the pain. The man took one step forward. Then he just stopped.
A big surge of energy hit him fast like a bolt of lightning. Something down inside of him suddenly became unlocked. Then a status window popped up all by itself. It was glowing with a scary red edge:
I just got this crazy thing happening to me.
【Awakening Triggered: Near-Death Catalyst】
I guess this is what they call a wake up call.
【Skill Acquired: Void Surge】
This Void Surge thing is really powerful.
【Description: Channel void energy to make my strength, speed and healing happen fast for 60 seconds. I can even ignore the pain for a bit. It also helps me unlock some hidden stuff in these Nodes and Artifacts things.】
There is a big cost to using it.
【Cost: -use Backlash – my health starts going down by half I get really slow for 24 hours and there is a risk of something called Void Corruption which can make me lose some of my abilities for good if I use it too much.】
I have to be careful, with this Void Surge thing.
【Skill Acquired: Void Surge】
The Void Surge is a game changer. It can also hurt me a lot.】
【Activation: Willpower Focus – “Surge.”】
The power was like a buzz, in his veins it was really tempting. He felt overpowered, yes. He knew it came with a cost that could really hurt him badly and change him forever.
Kaito clenched his fist he could feel the edge of his fist. He did not want to be weak.. He was not going to use it now. Kaito was going to save it for when he faced Shade.
Revenant looked at the window. Raised an eyebrow. He said "This is a break or it is a curse. Either way we should not waste this opportunity. The window is open, for the Revenant so the Revenant must use it."
He. He started to walk towards her but he was stumbling. The valley that was so calm and quiet was now broken and something inside of him was broken too. He was changed, like something new was made from the him forged anew.
They kept going the shadows got longer. The hunt, for something was not finished yet. The hunt was still on.
