NOVEL NEXT B3 - Chapter 7: A Rescue
Logan fell to the ground with a boom, kicking up dust and sand all around him. After two more test flights, he was starting to feel confident that he was getting the hang of this thing. Flush with success, he was so excited that he felt like he was vibrating in place.
He'd even tried to master deploying [Mimicry Armour] while up in the air, letting his facemask and helmet dissolve, and then sculpting talons while he was at speed. The results were so-so. Attempting to reform his armour while flying with the wind whipping at him was impossible, but hovering in place was a different story. In a pinch, he was convinced that he could reform his armour or hell, deploy [Life Fabricator] while up in the air. It would be difficult, but when was anything easy?
On top of that, these socks made him into not just a superhero, but a reconnaissance expert.
Now, Logan wouldn't just have [Threshold Shift] to teleport all over the place, he'd have a superhero mobility item. [Threshold Shift] was invaluable, but it had limitations. All he had to do was envision a location, and he could jump there in less than a millisecond. And yet, for all its utility, it had a narrow scope when it came to recon.
Logan could teleport into a clearing surrounded by cliffs and have no idea that an army of monsters lurked above, ready to attack. Whereas with the Pink Sock set, he could survey the ground, scan for threats, and get an idea of what he'd be coming into before it became an issue.
Not to mention that the fighting capabilities would be colossal. Already, one Pink Sock let him kick off and barrel into opponents, but what if he put the force of a rocket behind him? As he encountered higher leveled monsters, it would give him a leg up on the competition.
Logan ran a hand through his wind rustled hair, doing his best to straighten the strands, but he suspected that he looked like a madman. Although his eyebrows had started to grow back after being subjected to acid in the Perception trial, he knew he wasn't winning any beauty contests any time soon. Logan snorted and then shrugged his shoulders. If people were worried about a little thing like their appearance in the Apocalypse, then they had the wrong priorities.
Looking around, he peered at the deserted beach and pine trees, searching for a landmark. There were no buildings around here, and the 'beach' was barely five feet by five, sharp, jutting rocks all around. That meant he wasn't close to any populated tourist locations. Back on the ground, the smog was like a layer of thick fog, making it difficult to make out landmarks across the lake. Logan stared at the water, squinting his eyes. Was that…?
Huh. He must be close to Rattlesnake Island.
Logan rolled his shoulders, then deployed [Mimicry Armour] to reform his talons, taking out a handful of diamond dust and sand, this time making each talon wider with a deeper curve. On his way back to the cabin, there was no reason he couldn't experiment. If he were lucky, there might be a few flying hunting snakes left so that he could try cutting down a monster while he was airborne.
Logan closed his eyes, once again picturing his feet as rockets lifting himself in the air. With a built up of pressure, the socks obeyed, and with a crack, Logan darted into the air like a bullet released from a gun.
"Hell yes!" he shouted, laughing. This feeling of pure euphoria and joy wouldn't go away anytime soon. Logan pushed out one arm, his diamond-encrusted talons glittering in the sun, pushing out one leg and tilting his body forward, which allowed him to level out. All he needed was a cape to complete the superhero look, but Logan wasn't that vain. Besides, next time, he could fashion a backpack with [Mimicry Armour] and Ernie's tentacles would be all he needed to complete the look. That was more Logan, anyway.
He held back a grin as he peered down at the water, passing rippling waves and signs of fish jumping as they fed on hovering dragonflies. Logan scanned them with [Idiot's Inspect] on his way past, confirming what he already suspected. They were level 0, unevolved.
Logan kicked with his feet and sent himself into a loop, holding out his arm as he kept close to the shoreline on his way towards Rattlesnake Island. So far, no luck. The monsters were either hiding from Logan, or they'd fled the queen serpent.
Logan flew past a spat of pine trees that were brown and half dead from what looked like the pine tree beetle, then flew past a curve in the shore that took him over trees that…
That was weird.
They were so green they reminded him of a rainforest. The entire Okanagan was tinder dry, so for trees to be this lush and green looked odd, to say the least. Such a deep shade of green that they were almost black. Logan lessened up on his speed and let himself hover over the area as he scrunched his nose in puzzlement. Oddly, the lush trees stopped in a circle, and then the regular pine trees started up again. It was as if the green trees had hit a wall, or… an infection hadn't had a chance to spread.
He couldn't forget the zombie green beans and that according to Ernie, the queen serpent continued to spread her fungi underwater. Had he just found a flare up of infection?
There was something moving down below.
Logan envisioned his rocket feet stalling and then let himself drop to the ground. He'd found the trick to landing was to do it gradually otherwise he'd come down too fast. So fast the joints in his legs would take a hell of a beating. Stalling and starting, letting himself land as if he were coming down with a parachute rather than a free-fall.
Logan landed past the green, lush trees inside of the regular pine trees, then made his way towards that circular line. As he edged closer to the shore, his feet crackled against the surface. It sounded as if he were walking over brittle paper.
Logan looked down.
Aww, hell. Although it had only been two weeks since he'd encountered the noxious mushrooms and fungi at the resort, the memory was sharp. Sharp and bitter. He was walking over mycelium saturated ground. So, he'd been right. The queen serpent had spread her fungi, hoping to infect whatever was on the shore.
Logan needed to do something about that serpent before this got out of control. When he'd first encountered her, the System had showed her level as nothing but [???]. By now, he'd learned that question marks meant that the monster was way overpowered—nowhere close to his own level. That's what happened with Pied. To lower leveled Logan, the queen serpent's level had to be above 100. The question was, what was it now? And was she any match for Logan? He had no illusions that he'd fight her on his own. Ernie would kill him. No, it would be Logan, Ernie and his minion army against the queen serpent and her own army.
Well, if he'd wanted to grind, what better place to find monsters than underwater? Besides, when he thought of the queen serpent, his stomach sloshed, and his arm tingled as if he was feeling the effects of the severed limb all over again. Losing Ernie in the underwater tunnel to what he'd thought was certain death was a nightmare that he hadn't wanted to revisit. But that was the Logan of before, the Logan who hadn't gone through the trial dungeon and come out a different man. If he couldn't defeat the serpent, then forget defeating Pied. He might as well throw in the towel right now.
The first thing he could do was roast the hell out of this mycelium saturated ground. It was a breeding ground for the noxious mushrooms who'd lie in wait, ready to infect anyone who traveled into the area. By now, he'd already figured out a way to do that with [Life Fabricator].
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He'd roast the hell out of this place.
That was as easy as…
That wasn't a mushroom.
Logan tensed. Willing out a handful of sand from his spatial storage collar, he deployed [Mimicry Armour] and reformed his helmet and faceplate. Lastly, he activated the camouflage effects of the armour and turned himself invisible.
He tried to be as soundless as possible as his boots crackled over the ground, but as he crept closer, the mycelium stopped, transforming into a bare patch of soil. It hadn't spread that far.
Up ahead, in a small clearing full of hardpacked dirt surrounded by pine trees, there was a green tent, the canvass ripped down one side. The remains of a smoking campfire were in front of it, half-cooked trout in a frying pan to the side. The area was in disarray, as if someone had trampled through it, clothes discarded in a pile, a water jug upended and soaking the ground.
Logan looked across the clearing. Broken twigs and branches, signs of scraping against the dirt. It looked like something had charged out of the lake at speed. Something massive. He crept forward, ducking around four regular sized pine trees, then came to a stop, staring.
A pine tree towered over the rest of the trees. It had a wide trunk and protruding roots, a quarter of the size of his monster sucking trees. At the base of the tree, four monsters the size of bears chittered. With large buck teeth curved like walrus tusks protruding from their mouths, and round, bulbous bodies full of blubber.
Although they had four legs like a bear, their tails had a hairy base that transformed into a flat, scaly wide… thing. Like a rudder on a boat.
Fuck, they had to be beavers.
But unlike normal beavers, their fur was white, bleached like a polar bear. And these mothers were large, four hundred pounds at least.
Logan scanned them with [Idiot's Inspect]:
[Undead Beaver. Level 76. This beaver can grow to 1,000 pounds if fed enough meat. Its undead worms will infect prey and transform them into fuel for the minion army. Minion of Queen Naitaka.]
[Highest stat: Dexterity. Characteristics: A voracious appetite for bark has transformed into a voracious appetite for human flesh. Hidden name: N/A.]
Just like the moose, these things were massive, but their levels were no threat to Logan. It should be easy enough to take care of them. And yet, what were they doing?
Three of them sat on their haunches, their faces tilted up and their eyes glued to the top of the tree, while the other gnawed through the bark at the base of the pine tree, scoring deep gouges. It was trying to bring it down. Bringing a tree down wasn't new to a beaver, but the System's description of the craving for human flesh plus the signs of a discarded campsite didn't bode well.
Logan scrunched his eyebrows and peered up at the tree.
He didn't see anything at first, but then he craned his neck, peering all the way to the top—what had to be fifty feet at least.
There was a kid.
A child was clinging to the trunk of the tree, balanced on a branch, his freckled-covered face white with panic. He had curly black hair and brown eyes, skinny, twig-like legs, and hands covered in scratches and blood. Fuck, the kid had to be younger than Sawyer.
Logan scanned him with [Idiot's Inspect]:
[Mark Walder: Level 3. A human being.]
[Highest Stat: Constitution. Characteristics: His optimism is bigger than his capabilities. Hidden name: Sensei.]
Shit. There was no way this kid was hiding anything. It was a kid, a young child, in a tight spot. If Logan hadn't come along, he would have ended up another flower zombie. Either that or crushed underneath the weight of this tree when the beavers took it down. But how the hell had he managed to climb so high?
First thing's first.
These beavers had to go.
Taking out his sword from his spatial storage collar, Logan took a running leap at the nearest beaver sitting on its haunches and carved a deep cut over its shoulder. With another flick of his sword, he cut off a leg. The beaver let out a shriek and snapped at Logan, its walrus-sized teeth weapons on their own.
But Logan was too fast. Although their size made them cumbersome to deal with, Logan's agility was too high. Maybe if they managed to land a blow they could have given him trouble, but they couldn't see him to hit him. To the beavers, Logan was a sword that had appeared out of thin air.
Logan kicked off with his foot, this time not bothering with his Pink Sock, using his agility and speed to jump over the monster, carving through the white fur and hide until he sawed through its throat.
Ding!
[You have defeated a level 76 Undead Beaver!]
Blood gushed in a spray, which unfortunately covered his armour, allowing him to become visible again. The beaver next to the tree trunk had stopped gnawing away, its eyes glinting with greed when it got sight of Logan. Making an excited yip!, it bounded over and snapped its tail against the ground.
Logan glanced down at his feet.
Huh. For a second there, he was sure he'd felt the ground vibrate.
The beaver snapped its tail again.
Logan studied the ground with a raised eyebrow. Up above, pine needles shook loose, and the kid whimpered and clung tighter to the tree limb. Interesting. These things had evolved to use their tails as weapons. It wouldn't do shit against Logan, but he could see it causing problems for others as the beavers continued to level up.
Logan grinned at the beavers.
In another world, people might have classified these things as 'cute,' but that was before they had tried to eat a child. Logan flicked his talons and rushed forward.
His sword slashed through the beaver on his left, his talons taking the beaver on the middle, scoring a five-inch gash across its face. The beavers slammed their tails against the ground, chittering, then came at him again.
This was taking too long.
With a running leap, Logan jumped on the back of one, slicing his sword through its neck bone-deep, then kicked up with his Pink Sock, landing on the other. Holding the back of the thing's head with a fistful of fur, he twisted and broke its neck with a sick crunch.
Ding!
[You have defeated a level 76 Undead Beaver!]
[You have defeated a level 75 Undead Beaver!]
Logan jumped off the back of the corpse, landing on the ground, and then turned to face the remaining beaver.
It sniffed the air and snapped its tail, but this time, it was half-hearted at best. Its eyes were wide, that milky white film flashing like a reptile, its nostrils flaring and spewing diamond filaments that reminded him of Ernie's. But unlike Ernie's, these filaments dropped to the ground and dissolved into harmless liquid like a melting snowflake. With a crooning noise at its fallen companions, it let out one last chirp, turned and then tried to waddle away.
Hell no.
One running leap with his sword took care of the problem. With a bellow of pain, the beaver collapsed in a heap.
Ding!
[You have defeated a level 76 Undead Beaver!]
Logan was disappointed that he hadn't received a level up notification, but these beavers gave him way too low XP, and he was too far away from the next level. Still, all in all, he'd taken care of them in less than five seconds. Flicking his sword to get rid of the blood, Logan willed the weapon inside of his spatial storage collar. No reason to scare the kid.
This was where his new Pink Sock became convenient. Before, with one sock, he would have had to jump up the trunk, scaring the kid to death. With the entire set, he could rise like he was standing on a cloud.
This would take delicacy, finesse, but at this point, he was treating every encounter as an opportunity to practice. Closing his eyes, Logan envisioned his feet lifting him into the air. Unlike last time, they weren't rockets. They let out a small stream of air, a smidgen only, enough to give him a lift, allowing him to drift up as slowly as possible.
Logan opened his eyes, holding back a grin as he watched the bark of the pine tree pass by. He peered up, biting his lip as he grew closer to the kid, then eyed the nearest large, wide branch. A branch that was solid enough to take his weight. As soon as he reached it, he grasped it with his talons, holding on tight, then envisioned his feet stalling out.
Just like that, Logan's socks deactivated, and he was hanging onto the tree branch with only his grip. Logan pried himself up.
Leaning against the trunk, he stared up at the child. "Hey, kid. This is a rescue."
The child's mouth dropped open, a blush deep on his freckle-clad face.
"Stay away from my brother," a voice spat from above.
Logan peered up.
Against the tree trunk, there was a shimmer, a trick of the eye. Then with a flash, the woman materialized. Clinging to the tree like a monkey with one hand, her eyes on fire, her mouth bared in a grimace. Digging in her feet against the bark, she took out a knife from her pocket and pointed it at Logan.
Logan scanned her with [Idiot's Inspect]:
[Kate Walder: Level 12. A human being.]
[Highest Stat: Agility and Dexterity. Characteristics: Now you see me, now you don't. Hidden Name: Katie.]
She had to be a teenager at best, with skinny legs just like the boy. Her brown hair was ratty and covered in sap and pine needles, her legs red with scratches and blood. Unlike Logan's armour camouflage effect which shimmered in front of your eyes on closer inspection, this teenager must have a true invisibility skill.
"Kate!" said the kid in an excited voice. "It's the flying octo-man!"