Chapter 38: Chapter 36 – Square One

BOOOM!

The deafening sound of an explosion. The feeling of being thrown through the air and wind whirling past me. The bright light of the outside world. The distinct sensation of falling.

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The next day, after being fully healed, I re-equipped myself and set out after being discharged. I brought the remains of my dual-swords to Lira and Patton's workshop, and after a thorough scolding, told them to reforge them into a new weapon. I gave a rough sketch of my idea to them, and while Lira still seemed upset, she accepted, claiming they would need at least a week.

I didn't have a week, but that was fine. I instead rented a decent shortsword that would serve me well until my new weapon was finished. Next, after bidding them farewell, I went to visit Illivan so my armor could be repaired once again, since I had been shot multiple times. While she expressed concern over me again, she told me the repair would only take a few hours, so I waited nearby the shop. And once the repairs were finished, I graciously thanked Ms Illivan once more.

Illivan: "Do be more careful in the future, honey. I would hate to lose a valuable customer and friend"

Iris: "Of course, miss. I'll be off now."

And now that the necessary things were taken care of... I spent the next two days resting and training myself. I practiced magic this time, expanding the amount of darts i could use and consecutively fire. I also practiced wielding the mana in myself, trying to enhance the efficiency of Primal Enhancement.

The results were, good enough, I suppose. I could now adjust the strength of Primal enhancement, which resulted in it merging with Physical Up to become one skill. My limit was about 30% of full Primal Enhancement, which still ended up being a 70% status increase compared to Physical Up's 50%.

As for Mana Darts, it was still impractical to consecutively fire them, but I was able to control the formation now, and could shape the darts into triangular chevrons, like arrowheads. With this, I could "link" them together and use the magical chevrons as a bladed whip that extended about 6 feet.

And finally, I created a new technique for my non-elemental magic. I could form a "spear" of magic from my palm, and create a vibrating layer of mana above that, creating something similar to a "chainsaw" from Licht's world. The blade at the end vibrated at such a high speed it burned like plasma, and drilled into even reaper chitin with ease. But the range was only about 4 feet at best and it consumed mana. I would add this to my trump cards.

Most of this training took place in one of the empty warehouses along the outskirts, once owned by the Alchemists. Christy also tagged along, partly to spend time with me it seems, but also to train her own magic. And just like that, two days had passed...

Christy: "What..? Why can't I come!"

Iris: "It's too dangerous. Like, way too dangerous. The swarm queen is there and there are countless monsters. I can't afford to protect you in a place like that."

I had told Christy she can't come. Why that was, well, it was partly because I was worried, and partly because I didn't trust Task Force Ghost yet. Because I knew they didn't trust christy.

Christy: "But i want to help, and to get stronger! By your side!" she yelled, throwing her arms in an angry gesture. Frustration was evident on her face, which I looked away from.

Iris: "I know. But you'll have to keep training here, by yourself, for a time. I'll be back, I promise." I said, turning away from her. She hesitated before responding.

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Christy: "...If you don't come back, i'll curse your name to the bottom of the ocean."

I chuckled softly "that sound's scary." I replied. I didn't turn back as I left her behind at the inn we had been staying at. And soon, I arrived at the Station. A number of soldiers and the members of Task force Ghost covered in thick cloaks and inside their armor were by the train we were boarding. It wasn't huge, but it was heavily armored and looked more advanced than other trains.

All the soldiers were covered head-to-toe in black and dark red combat armor and had steam rifles on them. One of them had his face wrapped in a balaclava, but i could still see a hint of bandages underneath. The soldiers all stood in formation, facing Y'vanna and the other Ghosts. I joined the formation, and she began a briefing similar to what I had already heard.

Once finished, the lot of us piled into the train cars, divided into three squads. I was in the second car, sat in a seat and packed in with a number of other soldiers, near the one soldier wearing a balaclava. And then the train set off, rattling slowly down the tracks at first, before picking up speed.

I got a number of strange looks from the men, but I ignored the lot of them. When we were in formation earlier, I saw at least two other men that weren't obviously soldiers, and seemed to be either hunters or mercenaries. Soon enough the soldiers began to chat with one another during the ride, and all I had for company was Licht. Who, wasn't exactly a chatterbox.

The masked man by me was also quiet, and simply hung his head for the trip. The inside of the train car was light by several lights in the roof, but also by thin windows at the tops of the car doors. It was when I was looking out at the sky above that I noticed it... The man pulled out a rolled up bit of paper, and unwrapped it.

I watched in curiosity and confusion as he started mumbling, and slowly stood up to face everyone, most of who weren't paying attention. Except two others, the Hunters. Realisation dawned on my face and I leapt up at him, he was casting a scroll!

But it was too late. "Fireball!" A huge orb of flame appeared in the air and detonated. The entire car exploded from the sudden pressure and I braced with Primal Enhancement. The doors flung off and the train car split in two, and I...

Was deafened by the explosion. I had been flung out of the train car, along with the burning bodies and chunks of gore from other soldiers. I could feel wind whirling past me. I saw the train getting smaller, and further away, up... Up?

I was falling. Fast. The structure rising above me... It was the bridge. Crossing from one mountain to the other. That meant... I turned my head as best I could. Darkness below me. Water. Water. The ocean in this world was the deadliest place that existed. And all of the water in the outside world was considered "ocean".

My mind was rushing along with the wind. Time felt like it slowed down. How was I going to survive this? Not only the impact with the water, but not drowning, and not being killed by whatever is in the deep? I spread out my arms and legs during the fall and tried to channel some kind of film of mana between them all, even just a bit, to try and escape terminal velocity.

I certainly slowed down, now i just had to hope it was enough. Next would be to dive into the deepest part of water so I don't hit it with a -splat-. When i gauged it to be close enough, i shifted my arms and legs into a pencil dive and breached the water.

COLD! FREEZING! The water was not only much faster than i thought, but it was also extremely cold. And extremely dark. I couldn't see a thing but it felt like my body was being pulled and rolled around within the water. I tried my best to swim to the surface and hold my breath, but I couldn't see how far the surface was. It seemed extremely far away... And then darkness. I could see nothing as I flailed and struggled against the current. Moments later... My consciousness faded as the icy darkness swallowed me whole.

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drip... drip... drip...