Progression???

Chapter 75

Friday, May 22, 2014

6:30 am

(Ivan's POV)

I run a comb through my hair as I stared down at Zacharias, I looked at the bottle holding the orb resting on his stomach. The orb was slightly bigger, but not by much. He was peacefully sleeping on the couch, there was a vinegar-like smell, I wrinkle my nose and move towards him to shake him awake. His body shook, his eyes frantically looked from side to side. He groaned as he slowly sat up, there were huge purple bags under his eyes. He sniffled as snot ran down his nose. He sleepily looked down at the bottle on his chest and picked it up. He hazily stared at me with his eyes glazed over, he let out a pick yawn as he waved at me.

"Heyyyy," I slowly blink at him as I put the comb back into my Inventory. It looks like he survived, he should be able to use Soul now according to Jana. I actually thought he was dead at first, it makes sense that he looks like trash.

"Good morning," I responded. Zacharias held the bottle up to his face, his arm was shaking trying to hold it.

"Uhh, what's this?" I shrug as check the time on my watch.

"I don't know, you made the thing when you passed out." Zacharias wearily smiled.

"So is this my power?" Zacharias placed it on his stomach and leaned in closer. His smile grew wider and wider the more he stared at it. "What do you think it does?" I shake my head in confusion.

"I have an idea. Have you tried... doing anything? I don't know how this works." A thin layer of smoke surrounded Zacharias. He grunted and flexed his muscles in an attempt to keep the smoke from fading. His grunt quickly turned into desperate gasps of air, I could see the gears in his brain turning as he tried to make the orb do anything. The smoke faded as his back fell onto the couch. Sweat drenched his face as he caught his breath. His eyelids drooped. He let out a big yawn. Zacharias tried to stare at me, instead, his eyelids closed. He was still conscious but he was too tired to open his eyes.

"Do you mind, if I, uh, sleep for a bit more?"

"I have school so sure."

"You go to school?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"I dunno, I just thought... I just thought that you would skip doing something else."

"School is just a tiny break from all the fighting and business I do," I said dryly.

"Oh." I turn around and walk away. I heard Zacharias softly breathe, I take my backpack out of my Inventory and start to make my way towards school.

I hope his power is useful to me.

3:58 pm

(Michael's POV)

I raise my club-like weapon over my head and slam the spiked end of my weapon into the ugly human-like creature. Its slanted eyes looked up at me as I swung my weapon at its legs. The creature fell to the ground, I slam my weapon into the creature's head. The creature's body starts to shake as blood ran down the creature's mouth. I pant for air as I rested my weapon on my shoulder. I felt a tight, burning feeling churn in my stomach as I looked at the camp. The wood of the cabins were scratched off, the air was filled with a foul sewer-like smell. There was no one in sight, only the bodies of the Shikome filled the camp.

I look around and looked for any of those deformed ugly Shikome. I lay my weapon on the ground as I grabbed a Shikome's arm and dragged its body near another Shikome. I closed my eyes and sighed before dragging another Shikome to the pile of Shikome. I couldn't help but think about that cave that me and Weiss found last week. I shouldn't have gone down there. I walked over to another Shikome and started to drag its body to the pile.

Would all these Shikome still raid the camp if I didn't open that trap door? This is all my fault. If I just listened to Weiss, then Coach would've had this contained already. I just had to go explore. I take a step back from the pile and bring my hands up to my chest. I felt a burning, fiery sensation burn my throat as my hands instinctively formed hand signs. A hunched over as a ball of fire jumped out of my mouth and onto the pile. I coughed as I went over to my weapon to pick it up. I heard a slow pair of footsteps approach me, I quickly pick up my weapon and turn around with my weapon raised. I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw my red-headed sister staring at me. She looked at the burning pile of bodies then looked at me.

"Is that all of them?" My sister asked in a hoarse tone. The eye bags under her eyes told me that she was spending all her time trying to fix my mistake. I stare nervously at the pile, I saw one of the dead Shikome stare directly at me, its eyes wide opened. A wave of uneasiness swept me from side to side the more I stared at its eyes. The monster looked too human, way too human. I shouldn't feel guilty about killing something that was threatening the camp. But the way it looks, if I didn't know what a Shikome was I would think that they were just an ugly person.

"Yeah," I replied in a quiet voice. My sister frowned, the crackled of the fire filled the air. I felt the fire's heat hit my back the more I stood near it.

"This isn't your fault," I didn't reply, I just stared at my feet. "Go get some rest," she said before walking away. I looked up while biting my lip. I look behind me, before walking my way back to my cabin. My body bounced with each step. I look up at the sky in an attempt to distract myself. All it made me do is remember that the sky I'm now seeing isn't even the sky. It was just an illusion.

A huge blast of wind rang through the air, the sound of fast-approaching footsteps slammed against the floor. I looked to my side, I felt my body freeze up as I saw Ivan running away from a horde of Shikome. A Shikome reached out to grab Ivan's shirt, the wind rushed around Ivan, Ivan took a deep breath before he suddenly sped up. Ivan noticed me and waved towards me. I drop my weapon and quickly pick up a tiny pebble from the ground. I held the pebble in the palm of my hand as I formed one singular handsign. I felt my feet slowly leave the ground. I hunch over as I threw the pebble at the Shikome. My eyes widened as the pebble flew straight to Ivan's face. Ivan quickly stepped to the side and kept running. The pebble bounced off the chest of a Shikome. The Shikome flailed its arm's around as it started to leave the ground.

The Shikome's arm slapped another Shikome, the Shikome that was slapped was slowly lifted up into the air. Just like the first Shikome, the Shikome flailed its arms in confusion. I watched as Shikome kept accidentally hitting the other Shikome. Ivan quickly ran past me and stopped right behind me. Ivan stepped to my side and looked up at the group of Shikome hovering in the air. I breathed in deeply as I let myself fall to the ground. Ivan smiled as the Shikome suddenly fell down onto the ground. The Shikome let out a loud screech. Ivan stepped forward with a pebble in hand. Ivan calmly tossed the pebble into the crowd of Shikome and snapped his fingers.

I shut my eyes and cover my ears as a loud, ear-deafening bang filled the air. I winced at the ringing in my ears. Ivan looked up at where the Shikome and looked at me.

"Ho'd yu d- dat?" Ivan said in a muffled voice. I put my pinky into my ear and twist around. I take it back out but it was still hard to hear past the ringing noise.

"What!" I accidentally shouted at Ivan. A small bottle with a green liquid suddenly appeared in Ivan's hand, he stretched out his arm to give me the bottle. I quickly take it and chug the whole bottle down in one gulp. The ringing was quieter but it was still there.

How did you do that?" Ivan asked in a more clear voice.

"Do what?"

"Lift all of them up into the air." I shrug.

"Remember when we fought that monster when we climbed the wall?" Ivan nodded.

"Oh yeah, he was doing something similar." Ivan closed his eyes and started thinking. Ivan quickly reopened his eyes. "Can you do the thing again?" I nod and make the hand sign as Ivan watched intensely.

My feet left the ground, I shifted around mid-air trying to get used to the weightless feeling. Ivan stretched out his hand and stared me right in the eye. "Touch my hand," he commanded.

"You sure," I asked in a squeaky voice. Ivan nodded in response. I let my finger graze his hand. A bead of sweat ran down my face as Ivan was lifted into the air. I let me and Ivan drop to the ground. Ivan caught himself with the wind and floated down to the ground. Ivan had an unsure look on his face.

"It might be gravity?"

"Gravity," I repeated.

"It's not the wind, it wouldn't affect me. And I don't know if telekinesis is a thing. I don't know if it's gravity, but I can't really see what else it could be. Actually, it would explain how the monster we fought was bouncing off the ground and hovering." He said as he looked at the Shikome. Ivan tilted his head and looked at the sky. "What's wrong with all these monsters anyway?" I looked away from Ivan as my cheeks flushed a bright red.

"Re-remember when we- remember the cave?" Ivan nodded and looked away.

"Oh that, Coach didn't do anything yet?" I shake my head. Ivan tapped his foot and grinned. He quickly hid his grin. He glanced at the bags under my eyes. "Michael, get some rest. You look like garbage." I frantically point to all the Shikome corpses on the ground.

"I have to get rid of all-" Ivan quickly interrupted me.

"I'll do, at least take a nap."

"But I-"

"Michael, what are you going to do when you're sleep-deprived."

"I don't feel sleepy though." Ivan rolled his eyes.

"You look tired though." I grit my teeth.

"I have to fix my mistake though," I whispered in a quiet voice. Ivan raised an eyebrow.

"You'll do better after sleeping."

"But I," Ivan stepped forward with a smile on his face.

"We're friends Michael, I'll cover for you." Ivan pointed to the Shikome on the ground. "This, this isn't just your mistake. I also said that we should explore the cave. This is both of our mistakes." I bit my lip. I pinched myself as I felt a cozy warm feeling take over my body.

"Th-thank you," I whispered. I rubbed my eyes and yawned.

"It's nothing, Michael.

4:10 pm

(Ivan's POV)

I watch as the corpses of the monsters burned. I watched until the fire slowly died down. I stretch as the ashes flew up into the air. With Michael gone, I don't think I have to worry about anyone seeing the monsters ignore me now. I stretch up into the, I moan as I felt the light, sleepy feeling wash over my body. It was annoying having the monsters chase me so it didn't look suspicious to anyone. I look around for anyone in sight. It doesn't look like anyone is out right now either. I sit on the ground as another one of those human-like monsters walked by. I stared at the monster crossed my legs.

There must be a reason why Coach doesn't have this under control yet. Knowing him, I thought this would be gone on the first day. Maybe there's something I'm missing about the situation. Nuxiel didn't tell me much other than the monsters roaming around and no one has been outside. I stand up on my feet and start to walk in a random direction. I wish Nuxiel could've told me about everything in person instead of leaving information on my desk for me to find after school.

I could've had Zacharias working by now but now I'm busy with this. I close my eyes and think. There isn't much I can do now that I can't get anyone to work for me in the camp, Alice can't use the pesticide now that the monsters are walking around the garden.

I know Qaid would have a solution to this, but we're clearly not on good terms right now. I smile as I think back to Wayne and his cabin. I know that I told Wayne that I wouldn't talk to him anymore, but maybe, just maybe I could bribe him to help me. He could be a guard or something. A guard would be a good position for him. But I don't know how I would get him to work with me. His uncles don't like me, I don't think Wayne likes me very much either. It wouldn't hurt to try though.

I sigh as I fly up into the air. I looked around and scanned the camp for Wayne's camp. I've never been to his cabin, I have no idea where it could be. I grit my teeth as I randomly started to float over random cabins. I notice Wayne and his uncles sitting by the front of their cabin. I smile as I float down to the ground. His uncles quickly got up, Wayne had a shocked look on his face as I landed on the ground. I look towards Wayne with a confident look.

"Wayne," I called out towards him. His uncles stepped in front of him, I walk past his uncles and walk straight up to him. "Wayne I need to talk to you for a few minutes." I felt his uncle's glare at the back of my head, Wayne shifted his weight from foot to foot.

Wayne looked nervously as he nodded. I grab his hand and lead him away. Wayne looked back towards his uncles. "Just wait here he commanded." As I let go of his hand and walked away. I let him a few yards away from his cabin and stopped. I turned to face him. Wayne shifted his face, he crossed his hands as a stern look appeared on his face.

"What happened to not talking to me anymore." I stretched out my arm and wave my arm to the broken, rotting cabin next to us.

"I said that when there weren't any monsters walking around the camp." Wayne looked over his shoulder and at his uncles. He quickly looked back towards me.

"What do you want then? It's not like we can do anything about it." I smirk as I stare at him. Wayne's eyes widened as he realized what I was thinking. He shook his head. "I'm not going to fight the Shikome."

"How about you and your uncles then?"

"Hell no! Why would we? Coach is eventually going to fix this."

"It's been a few days, I haven't seen him do anything about it."

"Then why me and my uncles? I know you know other people who can help fix it." I leaned in towards Wayne. Wayne took a step back.

"The people I do know work under Coach, I don't see them doing anything about it either. I need people who know how to fight." Wayne raised an eyebrow.

"Me and uncles don't want to do it." He said sternly. I grit my teeth and step back.

"I need people who can help improve the camp, this can be our first step," I said in a fake, high enthusiastic voice.

"How long have you been trying to improve the camp?" Wayne said mockingly. I take in a deep breath and think back to Qaid.

"I can actually do something now," I take a step forward and look to the side to side like I was going to tell him a secret. I felt a giddy feeling run through my body. "Me and my brothers kept having arguments and that didn't let us get anything done." I smile as I thought of what to say next. "They don't want to work on it anymore." I point to myself. "Now I can do what needs to be done," I said confidently.

"Good for you, but we can just let you do everything while my cabin can just benefit from what you do."

"It's fine if you want to do that, but you won't be getting paid." Wayne's finger twitched at the mention of payment.

"What kind of payment?" Wayne asked.

"Anything," I stated.

"Anything?" I nod. "Like, the stuff I asked you before?"

"Even that," I said through gritted teeth. Wayne thought about it for a moment.

"Fine," Wayne said as he stretched out his palm. I grab his hand and shake it. "I don't know if my uncles want to help, but I'll help." I nod as a grind appeared on my face.

"Go talk to your uncles now, I'll get weapons tomorrow."