Gastle [4]

The sound the bike made was nothing compared to the wind. The light blue hue of Aether made it visible, but that was a good thing in this scenario.

Gio rushed through the storm, feeling the strong winds against the armor padding his chest. It felt like he would get blown away the moment he got off the bike, but he didn't come unprepared.

He searched for any rock formations in the vicinity until he found something to take cover behind. After driving himself there, he slammed the brakes on the bike and kicked down its stand. 

As he pressed and held a red button on the handle, the bike's internal systems changed, fitting themselves together in a much more dense formation. In a way, it turned itself into its own anchor as Gio dismounted and pushed his back against the rocks. 

He was confident he didn't have to worry about the bike moving more than a few feet from where he left it. More importantly–

ROOOOAR!

It was almost like the roar of a beast. Gio's clothes were form-fitting, but they flapped around as much as they could.

'I should be able to stand, right?'

He took a step away from the rock carefully and reached his arm out past their protection.

"Tch!"

He was immediately pulled backward by the strength of the wind, but he only stumbled for a moment before planting his feet in the sand and regaining his balance. 

The shoes he wore weren't normal either. They were ordinary only in the Wasteland where they were considered essential gear for any scavenger. Those boots had a special material on their soles that could rapidly solidify the ground around them to gain grip on even the most hostile surfaces.

If it weren't for inventions like these, possible only because of the new resources that appeared on Earth after the Forthcoming, life in the 6th Stratum would have been impossible.

Nevertheless, using the boots to get proper footing, Gio took a deep breath and pushed into the storm with his shoulder. Immediately, his first priority was to keep his footing without stumbling. 

He did so quite easily and moved on to his second priority: moving. 

He took one step after another, moving perpendicular to the wind to acclimate to its movement. He was still looking for heat sources with his visor, ready for the moment he had to enter a confrontation. 

It came sooner than expected.

Monsters and mutated beasts alike had a thirst for human blood. While Gio wasn't the shape or size of their usual prey, the predators in the storm were bound to rush for him the moment they saw his shadow.

The first one that came was swift and almost invisible in the sand. It was perfectly the same color as the surrounding haze and could only be differentiated by the pair of bright yellow eyes on the front of its head. 

It was shaped like a leopard and had a maw of sharp fangs, including two main fangs that looked to be six inches long. They were perfect for ripping into throats. 

"...!"

He spotted it early, so he was able to react to its speed. It charged at him with the sandstorm, facing him to turn directly against its current. He readied his sword, knowing bullets wouldn't be worth anything in this scenario.

In his eyes, it was like the beast approached in slow motion. 

He separated his vision from reality, looking into the [Memory Book]. He saw exactly where the beast was approaching from and plotted its course. Its trajectory and speed registered clearly in his mind, and without him doing any calculations, he felt like he could see it in front of him. 

Without looking to see where it was a second time, he sidestepped and whipped his body around, stabbing the sword directly downward. 

Hisss!

The leopard beast hissed at him fiercely as it was forced to back away with blood dripping from its side. It avoided the sharp tip of the sword impaling it, but it couldn't avoid the edge. 

'Tier 1. Otherwise, it wouldn't be hurt.'

Gio grinned. This was the target he'd been looking for. Without waiting for the beast to make another move, he charged into battle, confronting it head-on.

The winds on his back enhanced his speed. In a moment, he was in front of the beast. He slammed his foot into the ground and used the strength of both arms to pull his blade sideways. 

The glowing blue blade made of pure superheated energy cut through the debris in the air, creating a burning smell that clogged the beast's nose. It recognized the dangers of that blade after being struck by it once, but it didn't have much intelligence. 

It still viewed itself as a predator, so rather than using the storm to retreat, it dodged the sword and pushed forward, swiping its claws at Gio's chest. 

His eyes tracked its movements, but his body couldn't react in time. He took one hand off the sword and grabbed the pistol on his hip just as the beast slashed into his chest. 

He could feel its claws trying to push all the way through its armor, barely being blocked by the several layers separating his skin from the world outside. 

Its claw got stuck in the ripped material, but it used that to push itself upward, its teeth aimed for Gio's throat.

However, its attack only needed to be blocked once. Gio had the pistol in his hand already, and before the leopard could reach its target, he put the barrel against its stomach and fired.

Bang!

A splatter of blood splashed across his chest as the beast howled in pain. Its momentum was stopped by the bullet, and before it could regain its senses, Gio grabbed it by the nape and threw it away. 

He put the pistol away and chased after it, reaching it before it could recover. Once again bringing out his sword, he stabbed into its side, burning the blade into its heart.

Hissss!

The beast gnashed its teeth and growled, thrashing about to escape his clutches. However, it was already too late. Gio planted his knee on the beast's stomach and twiddled the blade, leaving it no room to do anything but die.

"Haa…haa…"

He took short breaths as he looked around. His first prey had been hunted, but as long as this sandstorm was going, it wouldn't be anything near the last,

'I don't feel tired at all. Rather, I feel invigorated.'

It was odd. There were two versions of himself, one that never experienced battle and another that drowned in it. Neither of those versions particularly enjoyed battle. It was merely a necessity.

In this life…

It wasn't that he enjoyed battle more, but there was something about moving his body freely on this planet, in his homeland, that made him feel amazing. 

With powerful steps that seemed to resist the storm more and more as the seconds passed, he trudged deeper. 

And when he found his next target, he didn't wait for it to take the time to recognize him. 

These predators were going to be forced to acknowledge themselves as prey soon enough.