Becoming The Apocalypse Master With A Dual Cultivation Manual

About an hour later, Kyle and Orion had managed to slay the Cursed-rank mutated creature. It had been a hard task. Even though Kyle had already slain two Cursed-rank beasts before, the Madorana proved difficult with its seven agile tails that struck with precision and its agility, making it nearly impossible to land a blow on its hardened scales.

Fortunately, it carried no Elemental trait and was only a Brute-type. At first, Orion insisted on taking the kill alone, and after several failed attempts, he finally struck true. He absorbed the essence core, pushing him into Layer Five of Tier Two.

Kyle regretted letting the chance slip. If he had taken the kill, he would have advanced to Layer Four and been able to test his Black Thread skill properly on a living opponent rather than the head of a Demon. Regret served no purpose now.

Once they had cleared the surroundings and made sure the area was safe, they carried the Madorana's body back towards the spot where they were to regroup with the two girls.

Meanwhile, Adela and Na-Ri had found containers suitable for holding water and drawn what they needed from the river. After filling them, they made their way back, weapons at the ready and senses alert.

***

Moments later, the group gathered again at their usual spot. By then, night had fallen. They shared the water Adela and Na-Ri had brought back, careful not to finish it all in one go.

Once thirst was dealt with, the beautiful stranger started a small campfire while Orion carved chunks of meat from the Madorana. The two of them set the cuts over the flames, taking turns with the roasting.

Kyle had his doubts about an open fire and the smell of cooking flesh, but after taking extra precautions, they judged it safe enough. The fire was kept low and controlled, which slowed the roasting but drew no attention from afar.

Orion's shadow scout remained active, circling the perimeter to watch for any movement.

Kyle and Adela sat off to the side, keeping distance from the other two. The smell of roasting meat drifted over regardless, and Kyle's mouth watered despite himself. His body wanted food, his instincts reminded him of danger, and he sat caught between the two urges.

At another point, Kyle felt the weight of exhaustion creep in. Even with his body now far beyond human limits, he still needed proper rest to keep his mind sharp, and that was something he rarely managed. None of them did, really. Sleep came once every two days at best, leaving his head fogged and his patience fraying.

To keep himself from spiralling, he turned to the grey-haired beauty beside him. Lacing his fingers behind his head, he spoke up with a question that had been gnawing at him for a while.

"Hey, Ad... how did you end up with that sword from the Manual as a reward? I mean, I heard you never left the Settlement since you got here. Did it come up because you needed it or... how exactly? What kind of position were you in to even... Sorry, I'm probably asking too much. I'm just curious."

Adela giggled softly, leaning back against the rock she rested on. Without hesitation, she summoned her teddy bear, the same one Kyle had once mocked as childish. Back then, he had no idea it was an item with real power. Now, instead of laughing, he simply studied it with genuine curiosity, wondering how she had managed to pull so much luck in her favour.

Both of them were still only at Stage One recently. By rights, Adela couldn't have much battle experience, not compared to Na-Ri, who had supposedly reached Tier Three at an early stage of her life and super close to Tier Four. There were mysteries wrapped around all three of them, each carrying things Kyle still couldn't grasp, no matter how hard he tried.

"You're not asking too much. I can tell you straight. The sword and the bear weren't given by my Manual. They were transferred to me by my father..."

Her voice dipped as soon as she mentioned him.

Kyle tilted his head, listening more closely than usual. He could already tell this wasn't going to be some simple tale of rewards or luck.

"My father was a Tier Five," she said evenly, clutching the stuffed bear tighter.

"...We travelled through the ruins together after my mother died. That was four years after I was born. He kept me alive by making sure I was prepared before anything could go wrong. The sword was forged for him originally by his Manual, but he gave it to me once he saw how well I could handle it. He said it was better I carried something that could end a fight rather than spend my life hiding behind him. The bear… that was different. He gave it to me when I was still a child. It doesn't look like much, but it's a binding item, one of his trophies from the ruins. He never explained how he acquired it, but he told me it would shield me when he no longer could."

Kyle raised a brow, staring at the stuffed figure sitting on her lap, its stitched eyes reflecting the firelight.

'Sorry to say, but your father... was weird. I mean, who gifts their kid a terrifying doll like that? Actually, scratch that — who even decides to start a family in a broken world? Pfft.'

Kyle narrowed his eyes at the teddy bear she held so closely. Its usefulness was clear, yet something about it still unsettled him. Perhaps because it drew from a darker energy, judging by what it had done back at the field of dead flowers. No matter how often he reminded himself of its purpose, he could never get used to the idea of something like it in appearance being an item.

"He gave me both before he died," she added quickly, as though saying them quickly would stop her from dwelling on them.

Kyle felt the instinct to ask how her father had died, but he stopped himself. The question pressed at the back of his throat, but he swallowed it down. He did not need to see her face to know the memory was sharp and best left untouched.

He recognised that silence too well, the kind that guarded wounds which would never heal if opened again.

Instead, he gave a small nod and turned his gaze to the campfire.

"Tier Five," he murmured. "That explains a lot."

Adela glanced at him, catching the weight behind his tone.

"It explains why I had tools before others had chances?" she asked, picking up the thread of his thought. "It doesn't mean I earned them. I have lived with that truth every day. All I can do now is prove I am not wasting what he left."

Kyle leaned back against the rock, fingers resting on his stomach as he considered her words. He understood the unspoken burden she carried: survival bought by another's sacrifice rarely felt deserved.

"You do not need to sound guilty about it," he said at last. "Everyone gets their start differently. What matters is how you use it. I doubt your father would have given his last strength if he did not believe you would make it count."

Adela exhaled slowly, and for a moment her usual easy smile faltered into something quieter.

"That is what he told me before the end. Perhaps I needed to hear it again."

Kyle shifted and brushed some dirt from his sleeve, more to distract himself than for any other reason.

Naturally, he did not handle this kind of conversation well, being someone who had never related much with others, or at all until now.

His instinct urged him to fill the silence with something else, but Adela continued before he could, and he found himself actually feeling sympathy for her.

"I wasn't going to stay in the Settlement forever," she said. "He told me that wherever I went, I would have to step outside and make decisions that mattered, or I would die with nothing to my name but fear. I think of that every time I draw the sword and every time I call the bear."

Kyle understood that well enough. He had carried his own weight of losses without ever putting them on display. His scars were his, not something for others to measure.

The clearing lay silent, pierced by the faint crackle of the fire and the scent of roasting meat. He thought about saying something more, but no words came that would not sound clumsy.

So he gave a faint, restrained smile instead.

"Guess that makes you luckier than most of us. You have something of him still with you."

Adela tilted her head to him.

"Lucky?" she echoed softly.

'Ugh... that was pathetic. Lucky? What kind of shit line was that? Fuck you, Kyle. Learn how to say something decent for once.'

Kyle turned his gaze away from her with self-irritation.

They sat in silence for a while, neither pushing the other to speak. Kyle's stomach rumbled softly at the smell of roasting meat, and he shifted, annoyed at himself for being distracted by something so simple.

Just then, Adela turned to ask him a question she seemed curious about just now:

"You've asked me about my past. What about yours?"

She turned her gaze sideways.

"So, do you have anything to share as well, Kyle?"