Chapter 67: The Two Buses
The first time Dulton saw their leader was when he first stepped in front of the group. He had heard the rumors about him. About how young he was, about how he had defeated the armed guards, about how he may have also been the one who defeated Jace's two right hand men…three if you counted Damien and finally about how he had defeated Jace in a one on one fight.
The stories sounded amazing but to Dulton they were just that, stories. In his eyes there was no way he could see a teenager fight against a grown man and come out on top. In fact he didn't really have much of an opinion of him when he first joined the small group of would-be fighters. Dulton hadn't even been taking him seriously enough and had just wanted to see what kind of person Huey Coleman really was.
Now however two hours after exiting their camp and venturing out here with the purpose of hunting ravids and beasts in order to get stronger…he couldn't help but respect and even admire the teenager…no the young man for his courage and strength to fight against these creatures.
And even now as he saw Huey calmly duck beneath the claws of the black feline the size of a dog. His impression of him continued to grow.
…
HUEY COLEMAN'S POV
A sharp cut of air whipped above me as I ducked beneath the dark shimmering claws of a large black cat that had leapt up from the shadows. When it had first made an appearance it had been aiming for Clara's head and it had been too fast for her or Dulton to react even though in the last two hours they had both evolved to level 4 and 5 respectively. By the aura it was giving off it was well into the First Star Order a few levels above level 5 too.
I had moved to intercept it. Catching it off guard and delivering a kick that sent it flying away before hitting the ground a few meters away. The cat let out a whimper as it tried to stand on its weak legs.
When it did stand up though it gave me one look before it turned around in the other direction.
In an instant I knew it was planning to ran off. I couldn't let that happen. I ran toward it and with my current agility stat, I didn't even need to use
I looked down. The poor cat as large as a dog lay helplessly on the ground. Letting out sorrowful whimpers while blood poured out of the four open wounds were its paws used to be.
I shifted my gaze to Clara and gave her a meaningful look. .
If she killed this creature she was sure to get a considerable power up
She understood and ran forward holding the sword above her head with two hands in preparation. When she was within arm's reach she swung down cutting a large chunk of flesh from the cats neck. It let out one last whimper before the life faded from its eyes. A small potion of the cats Soul essence poured into my body as the green letters flashed in my retina.
Turns out this cat was actually a level 8 First Star Order called a Shadow Cat.
That explains how it had appeared out of nowhere, I thought just as another notification flashed. This one feeling more like a pleasant surprise.
[Creature with a shadow affinity killed Shadow Art +5]
A smile couldn't help but form on my lips as I saw this.
…
Clara felt the rush of soul essence enter her body. Even though she knew she was only receiving a part of it since she had been assisted by Huey it still felt like the purest soul essence and the green letters from the Spirit Record made her flash a beaming smile at him.
[You have acquired the soul essence of First Star Order level 8 Shadow cat
You have received Agility +3. Mana +4]
[You have leveled up to level 5. You cannot absorb more soul essence until mana core is formed. All soul essence acquired during this time will be stored and calculated upon mana core formation
[Would you luck to form mana core now?
Y/N]
…
"You'll form your mana cores when we get back to base" was Huey's response when she read her system messages to him.
"Okay boss" she smiled brightly and wrapped her arms around him in a warm hug only to be pulled away by the back of her collar
"Get you knitty bitty paws off him" she heard a rough voice that could only belong to Dulton behind her.
"What's your problem?" she pouted
"I just don't want a pervert like you near him" Dulton said
"Hey I'm not a pervert!" she snapped back
"Says the girl who has been eyeing like a piece of meat this entire trip" Dulton said with his arms crossed.
"I was not! I was merely checking him out is all I mean he may be a little younger than me but I don't see the problem" she shrugged
"Don't see the problem? He's 14 years old. What are you saying, you pedo"
…
Watching the two of them bicker. I couldn't help the slight smile on my face.
"Come on pick up your drops and lets go" I said looking down on the scroll and the three orbs-one red, two yellow.
Just then the radio that was in my pocket picked up transmission
"Boss we found working vehicles" it said.
"What kind?" I picked up immediately. Having working vehicles would be really great especially since we had to find a way to get everyone from school here and how quickly we could do that depended heavily on what kind of vehicles they were.
"Two buses and a land cruiser" I got back.
"Get them to base. I'll be with you guys soon" I said unable to hide my smile
"Sure thing boss"
Then the radio went silent
"What's got you all smiling boss?" Clara asked
"Well you heard what I heard right?" I asked. She and Dulton nodded
"The buses are going to help get my schoolmates here to base where its more comfortable. I doubt that big ass 50 floor building won't be able to hold that much" I said, finger tapping my chin. "Lets get going"
We had travelled a rather long distance so it took us a bit of an hour before we were finally back. When we got back to base the first thing I noticed was how heavy the scent of diesel was in the air. Just a few meters from the front gates, two large buses were parked. I had seen them move around the town from time to time. They were interstate buses that travelled all the way from London to Manchester that was just after our town. It even went beyond London all the way up to the capital of Britain, Lionberg City, where the Royal palace stood. It was also where other influential and prestigious families lived (we'll talk about them in detail later so just hang tight)
Lydia and Candice had already gathered a group of mechanics from the survivors to do some checks on the vehicles. There were seven of them-three were on one bus and four were checking out the other. Standing nearby was one of the three guards who had escorted Lydia and the others from the office building a few nights back. What were their names again…
Oh yes his name was Fish. Beside him stood Nale. Both of them were holding assault rifles just in case something happened. Not too far away from those two, Lydia, Candice and Rina were standing off on the side.
During these last few days it the girls had gotten closer than ever. Well maybe that's what happens when people face several life and death situations together. I gave Clara and Dulton a brief glance.
Even they had somehow gotten closer albeit just a little bit, but they were on a first name basis and they talked a lot as well which was somehow nice considering all the issues that I was sure were going to come in the future.
"You guys head on inside and form your mana cores. Then you can check out the treasure orbs that you got from your kills if you got any skills make sure you think it through thoroughly because I'm told at the First Star Order you can only learn 5 active skills from the skill scrolls" I said before walking off towards the girls.
I didn't really ask them about where they learnt all this yesterday since my mind had been preoccupied with a lot of things but as things stood now with most of what I needed to do done this morning I had some free time until lunch before taking Nale, Mordecai and Vicky out for a hunting trip of our own.
The girls saw me approach and gave a small wave in greeting. Not really knowing what to say in this situation I said the first thing that came to my mind
"Hey girls how's the weather looking today" I said before mentally slapping my forehead. Who talks about the weather in the apocalypse!?
I took a moment to look at them more attentively. Lydia was still wearing her purple battle robe that hugged her body tightly outlining her still developing curves, her black hair had grown longer that it used to be before and was now tied in a ponytail. Her green eyes seemed to glow like saphirres that pulled me in and no matter where I tried to look, my gaze always ended up drawn into those eyes.
Candice was wearing a pair of boots and booty shorts that I don't remember ever seeing her in putting her slender legs on display, she must have been in the shower because she spelled of soap and her hair was dump. She was giving off tomb raider vibes.
Rina wore blue jeans and a white blouse together with brown boots at her feet. Her blonde hair hang freely over her shoulder and her blue eyes seemed brighter as she looked towards the buses in delight. There was just no hiding it. Everyone was happy about this discovery as well
"Guess the world's still give us some good luck right?" Rina said as I ended up standing beside her. I gave a look at her side profile before replying:
"Yeah. With this it shouldn't be difficult to get the others from the school here and complete our mission" Lydia said from the Rina's other side.
"Yeah" I said in agreement. "With this even moving the entire base when the time needs it will be possible"
They all nodded.
"Oh by the way" I turned towards Candice. "How did you guys know about the skill cap on the First Star?"
"Right you still haven't read the [Beginner's manual]…but then again would a monster like yourself really even need it" Candice grimaced as she looked at me like I was some sort of freak.
Ignoring her last statement I asked. "[Beginner's manual]?"
"Its exactly as it sounds. It's a detailed book that has information up to the Second Star Order and most of the things are mostly basics" Lydia chimed in.
"Really! There's something like that?" I said and almost couldn't help myself from shouting out loud.
"Yes" Lydia said
"If your interested in it then you should go up to Jordan's room" Rina said
Knowing him he probably stuffed the book under his pillow and never even bothered to open it. Well, Jordan has never been big on studying to begin with and at some point some of his habits rubbed off on me and on more than one occasion as well.
"Okay I think I'll head there right away. Call be when the buses are ready or when anything that requires my attention comes up you let me know"
With that I walked off, past the buses and the busy mechanics where I could hear the sounds of wretches and hammers as they worked, and entered the front entrance of the building. The door had been put back together since the fight and the lobby had been cleaned as well as the bodies cleaned out. The lobby even still smelled like bleach with the occasion blow of air. As I made my way to the elevator I passed by a few survivors who I greeted with polite smiles and nods.
Ding!
The elevator doors opened up into the 50th floor of the building. There were only five rooms on this floor and they were far apart testament to how large each of them actually were. Jordan was in the second room on the left. I made to his door and gave it a knock.
"Hey yo big guy you better not be jerking off when I come in!" I said and pushed the door open. "Holy shit"
Was all I could say.
Compared to the room I had woken up in on the second floor. This room might as well have been in a different building entirely. The floor was lined with shining golden tiles. The ceiling was painted in a rich brown color that really complimented the gold color of the floor.
The door opened up to the living room space that was two times the size of the room on the second floor. It was neatly arranged with velvet sofas and an equally matching velvet carpet covering the floor. Beyond that was a door that I assumed led to the kitchen and another door that led to the room.
All in all the entire room looked and even smelled like a place rich pricks would call home.
"Hey man what brings you to my humble abode" Jordan said coming from his room. A shit eating grin on his face.
"Humble my ass. If I could sell this room I bet I would be able to even buy a new house" I said to which Jordan laughed.
I smiled and gave him a closer look. Currently he was wearing nothing but a bathing towel around his waist exposing his wet torso. I don't know if was imagining things but it looked like Jordan's muscles had become slightly larger than they would be. I paid closer attention however to his arms and chest that still had bruises that were fading.
"Make yourself at home bud…or should I say boss?" he winked. This time it was my turn to laugh. "…let me just get some clothes on and I'll be with you in a minute"
"Alright"
I said settling down in the nearest of the sofas. The cushions felt soft beneath my butt and if I wasn't careful I could probably fall asleep here. This wasn't a couch this was a sleep trap.
'Maybe later' I thought to myself and waited
Not long after Jordan returned this time wearing a vest and pair of jeans. If he wasn't so young he might have played the wolverine perfectly, well of course he also lacked the wild and straight hair the wolverine had but you get the point.
He sat across from he lesuirely
"If I didn't know any better I would have thought that you're on vacation" I said
"No far from that this is the only time I get to relax in a what feels like forever" Jordan said a sad smile on his lips.
"Yeah" I nodded. The apocalypse hadn't been anything nice at all. Well…maybe apart from the fact that we got stronger and we had a system, everything else just felt heavy.
"I wonder if they would have released new episodes of Black Clover by now" I muttered unconsciously
"Highly doubt it with the way the manga was going it would definitely take some time though" Jordan sighed
"Yeah"
There was a brief moment of silence.
"By the way I heard you got something interesting from the system?" I asked
"Your talking about the [Beginner's manual] aren't you?"
"Of course I am! How could you not tell me you had something like that?"
"Ehem…" Jordan awkwardly cleared his throat before continuing. "I kinda forgot?"
I almost fell out of my chair. How could this brute forget something as important as that?!
"You forgot" I said. Jordan was looking down as though the floor had become the most interesting thing in the world. I sighed and shook my head. Jordan always had his moments of shining and it always had to do with martial arts when it came to other areas of life though it could be a handful sometimes.
I was pretty sure that Jordan didn't even finish reading the book and only read up to the point he thought he really needed. I wasn't going to direct him on how he did things because that was his way and it usually worked for him too.
"You wanna take a look?" Jordan asked looking up from the floor with a grin.
"Yeah" I nodded.
"Be right back" with that Jordan zoomed out of the living room space and disappeared towards his bedroom. He came back seconds later carrying an old book with string-like binds. It reminded me of the martial art manuals from the murim manhwas I'd read in the past.
He handed me the book and its records flashed in my retina
[Beginners manual(Rare grade)-Contains the most basic information for those interacting with the spirit record for the first time.]
"Looks like I'll be studying tonight" I muttered with a dark expression.
I didn't like studying. Nobody did.