- Nano Energy: Average
Ability
Power: 16
- Time: Average
Time Compression: 65%
- Space: Weak
Void Burst: 2-Uses at Maximum Size
Control: 16
- Time: Average
Time Compression: 20-Seconds Uncompressed Time
- Space: Weak
Void Burst: up to a 20-Foot Range and up to a 1-Inch Diameter
I now had 33-seconds to act while 20-seconds of uncompressed time passed. You could do a lot in half a minute while everyone else was moving in slow motion.
“Congratulations,” Light said, running out to join me. “That was a 25th Milestone animal. Way to go.”
“How do you know that?” I asked. I should have asked sooner. How was it that the heroes seemed to be able to tell what Milestone a person or monster was at, and with such ease.
“Do what? Tell what something’s Milestone is?” Light asked.
“Yeah, that, how can you tell what something’s Milestone is?” I asked.
“Oh, sometimes I forget that you didn’t grow up here,” Light said. “It’s a feature of the Advent system. When you look at someone or an animal, just think scan. Your Nanos will send out a small pulse and contact your target’s Nanos. Most heroes learn to do this automatically as part of our threat assessment protocols. You never know when a villain is going to attack.”
“Huh,” I said, feeling slightly annoyed. I looked at Light and thought Scan. I saw a 38 over his head for a moment before it vanished from view. “Is there a way to get a deeper scan?”
“There is Nanotech that can scan deeper. And there are probably some ability users that can scan someone more thoroughly, but those are rare,” Light answered. “Anyway, let’s get back inside before Hammer decides to eat your reward.”
Light had a good point.
Inside the wall of the outpost, Hammer stood in front of the fire pit, slowly turning the skewered squirbit while the meat sizzled. He looked up when he heard me coming and said, “You’d better eat every last bite of the meat on those bones. If you let anything go to waste, I will be mighty displeased. And if I’m displeased, you can bet tomorrow’s hunt is going to be unpleasant.”
I nodded in understanding. Honestly, I didn’t feel great about eating the skewered animal, but it really did smell good.
“Oh, and starting tomorrow, no more free Nanos. You’ll need to fight for it like everyone else,” Hammer added, rotating the skewered squirbit over the fire.
Twenty minutes later, Hammer seemed satisfied with the cook of the meat. He handed me a pair of potholders and walked away. I took the skewer from over the fire and dug in. As ordered, I left nothing behind but bones. By the end, I didn’t think I would want to eat ever again. The meat was gamey and could have used some salt. Otherwise, it was edible. I thought or hoped there would be some kind of system message after eating but nothing appeared.
Ward looked at me expectantly.
“What?” I asked.
“Did you gain anything?” Ward asked.
“Not that I can tell,” I said.
“Check your status,” Ward said.
I checked but saw no difference. “Nothing.”
Ward frowned, “I don’t understand. Something like that squirbit must have had at least Master Rank Speed, it should have given you something.”
I shrugged, I didn’t know what to say and apparently neither did Ward.
But it was Light that recognized the problem and came up with a solution. He then asked, “Did you cultivate the food?”
“No,” I said. “Should I have?”
“Of course,” Ward said, slapping both open hands on his knees. “Of course, that’s got to be it. I should have thought of that sooner. You’re not from our world so you wouldn’t know. Fresh meat and fruits, and I mean really fresh like the quilldog yesterday and that squirbit today, they need to be cultivated to absorb all the Nanos within the food.”
“Why does fresh matter?” I asked, already feeling for the Nanos in my gut.
“After a day, the potency of the Nanos fades significantly. Often even turning inert,” Ward answered.
For a guy who doesn’t know much about science, he sure did speak like he knew a lot about it.
Anyway, I concentrated on the Nanos in my stomach. I could already feel the stomach acid starting to break down the meat. I could feel Nanos being destroyed. I couldn’t help but wonder how many Nanos I wasted by taking so long. I took hold of the Nanos in my stomach, those that remained. There were only 8,543 left. I applied my rhythm to them and in short order they were mine and no longer being digested. I also notice that the food seemed to burn up in the process, leaving me feeling hungry again, which also explained how Light, Ward, and Hammer ate so much more of the quilldog steaks than I managed.
“Now check your status,” Ward instructed.
Davis Malory
Aliases: N/A
Occupation: N/A
Alignment: Neutral
Milestone: 16th
Nano: 1,259,490/1,400,000
Body
Athleticism: 8
- Strength: Average
- Agility: Above Average
- Accuracy: Above Average
- Speed: Average (7/10)
- Stamina: Average
Resistance: 1
- Physical Resistance: Average
- Energy Resistance: Above Average
- Mental Resistance: Above Average
Recovery: 1
- Physical Injury: Average
- Nano Energy: Average
Ability
Power: 16
- Time: Average
Time Compression: 65%
- Space: Weak
Void Burst: 2-Uses at Maximum Size
Control: 16
- Time: Average
Time Compression: 20-Seconds Uncompressed Time
- Space: Weak
Void Burst: up to a 20-Foot Range and up to a 1-Inch Diameter
“Seven,” I whispered, then a little louder, I said, “Seven. I gained seven points of enhancement.”
“Goodness me,” Light said.
“Don’t tell Hammer,” Ward warned, looking around for the brutish man.
“Think you could kill one of those again?” Light asked, a hopeful look on his face.
“Yeah,” I said honestly. I could definitely kill one of those again. I would happily kill a hundred of those if it gained me seven points of enhancement.
“We need to find one first,” Ward said with a sigh. “As you can imagine, they are a bit on the rare side. The one you got today has lived near this outpost for years. We liked to use it as a training tool. With its speed, it helped our trainees gain speed with their attacks.”
“Does that mean Hammer was never going to leave?” I asked.
“Only if you failed to get faster. I don’t think he ever imagined you would get that fast,” Ward said with a laugh. “How did you get it anyway?”
“I hit it with Void Burst while my Time Compression was active,” I answered.
“You can do that?” Light asked.
I shrugged, “I just did.”
“You are quite the wonder,” Ward said.
“Why is that?” I asked.
“Having multiple abilities is already rare. Being able to combine both abilities is even rarer,” Ward answered. “Anyway, I’m going to cultivate. Can’t let Davis get ahead of me, now can I?” He stood and stretched before walking off. As he did, I looked at him and thought Scan, causing a 44 to appear over his head briefly. I made a mental note to do the same to Hammer Jack later.
“I should do the same,” Light said a minute later.
Sitting on my own by the small firepit, I closed my eyes and let my senses expand outward, feeling for the ambient Nanos in the air. Today ended up being a really good day, then my stomach rumbled reminding me that I was hungry . . . again.
14
De
spite me eating every last bite of the squirbit, Hammer Jack still seemed to be rather displeased with me. I could only assume he was more than a little jealous. That or he found out I didn’t know to cultivate the meat after eating it and he was punishing me for wasting the good Nanos.
The seven headed hydrasnakes he chose to hunt next was all the proof I needed to know that the man held a grudge. Thankfully, they were very different from the hydra of Greek mythology, they were neither gigantic nor did the heads regrow when you killed one. No, these were more snakes with seven heads and only about the size of a person when they reared up like a cobra to face an enemy. An enemy . . . like me.
I wished I had taken some time to learn to activate my Time Compression faster. As it was, the seven heads with deadly looking fangs dripping venom that were bearing down on me, promising a painful death, would have been the perfect time to slow time. Unfortunately, by the time I did, the serpent was less than a foot away from me.
I needed to stop the snake without putting myself in further danger. I created a half-inch Void Burst at the point where the seven heads connected to the body, and in an instant, I collapsed the void. Time resumed and the snake suddenly stopped its attack, looking kind of like one of those old cartoons. The one with the coyote that was always chasing that bird and always losing in humorous ways. Anyway, the snake heads suddenly stopped then reversed direction briefly before the seven heads were severed from the body. Thankfully, when they stopped moving backwards, they stopped moving.
With my primary target down, I looked for my next opponent. Light was easily sniping three different hydrasnakes from a fair distance away. As with each head killed, the snakes seemed to slow down.
Ward created barriers around a few of the snakes. I could see one or two fighting against the barrier and the other three were looking lethargic, hardly fighting back. I noticed the weaker hydrasnakes were slightly discolored, slowly turning darker blue with each passing second. It was about then I realized that Ward was suffocating them.
I couldn’t see where Hammer had gone off to, but I assumed he was fine.
From the corner of my eye, I saw another snake trying to sneak up on me. This time, I was better prepared, so I activated my Time Compression before it was able to attack. I set off two minimum powered Void Bursts at the same spot but from opposite sides. The hydrasnake was suddenly and violently pulled in two different directions almost at once. It split and died with barely a death throw after the spine had been broken so thoroughly.
“I’m running low,” I shouted, running back from the fight.
“I’ve got you, stay calm,” Ward said, looking completely unperturbed. He held a hand up in my direction for a moment and over my shoulder, I saw a blue shimmer appear. “Stay behind the shield, choose your targets carefully.”
I skidded to a halt and turned around, moving close behind the shimmering blue barrier.
We’d been killing these things for a while and they didn’t seem to have an end. I learned early in the fight that these were ambush predators. They liked to sneak up and lunge from the flanks or from the branches of the trees above us. I needed to always be aware of that. With the barrier in front of me, I finally had a chance to look at one of the hydrasnakes and think Scan. I was unimpressed. It was only a ten. I checked another and it was also a ten. The next was a nine.
“Don’t let their Milestone fool you,” Ward warned. “They will still kill you in one attack.”
“On your left,” Light yelled out a warning.
I looked left, seeing the snake starting to rear up. I didn’t use Time Compression this time, I didn’t have the power for it. I let off two small Void Bursts where the necks all met. It wasn’t as effective as when they went off at almost the same time, but it successfully snapped the hydrasnakes back . . . neck . . . body . . . whatever. I’m a doctor, not a veterinarian. When one of the heads kept moving, I used one more weakened Void Burst to kill it.
“I’m tapped,” I shouted nervously. I didn’t need to worry, Ward was on it, extending the transparent blue barrier around me. My health bar showed I was uninjured but the gold-colored bar that appeared after I unlocked my first Ability, Time Compression, was almost completely drained. I still liked that feature of the interface. I found it especially useful for when I lost count of how many Void Bursts I used.
“Start cultivating,” Ward ordered. “If you don’t start now, Hammer will take it all for himself.”
“What about you and Light?” I asked.
“We’ll still get some, but Hammer will take the lion’s share. If you find yourself competing with Hammer and us, you’ll get almost nothing. So, cultivate,” Ward ordered again.
I didn’t like the idea of cultivating like that. It almost felt like stealing. Still, if Ward was right, and he probably was, I really should just cultivate what I could now. Still not liking it, I did as Ward ordered. And given my Time Compression, like my Void Burst, was out of power, it meant I was doing it the slow way. I let my senses expand, pushing out to the farthest reaches and took hold of what I could, there were a lot more than I thought possible. Although, when I considered the sheer volume of hydrasnake bodies all around me, I shouldn’t have been. It was harder to build up momentum as I pulled my Nano-senses inward. I barely took hold of 53,421 Nanos. Worse, it took almost ten minutes to grab that much.
Davis Malory
Aliases: N/A
Occupation: N/A
Alignment: Neutral
Milestone: 16th
Nano: 1,342,118/1,400,000
Body
Athleticism: 8
- Strength: Average
- Agility: Above Average
- Accuracy: Above Average
- Speed: Average (7/10)
- Stamina: Average
Resistance: 1
- Physical Resistance: Average
- Energy Resistance: Above Average
- Mental Resistance: Above Average
Recovery: 1
- Physical Injury: Average
- Nano Energy: Average
Ability
Power: 16
- Time: Average
Time Compression: 65%
- Space: Weak
Void Burst: 2-Uses at Maximum Size
Control: 16
- Time: Average
Time Compression: 20-Seconds Uncompressed Time
- Space: Weak
Void Burst: up to a 20-Foot Range and up to a 1-Inch Diameter
I was so close to the 17th Milestone, but when I looked back up, the fight was over. I wanted to reach out again to try to grab more Nanos but when I reached out, there was nothing. All but a few hundred Nanos were gone. A quick look around showed Hammer was back and grinning at me like the cat that got the canary, which told me all I needed to know.
“You’ve got to be faster than that if you want to gather anymore Nanos,” Hammer taunted, then pointed to what I thought was north and said, “I found their nest about a mile that way, let’s go get us a hydrasnake queen.”
“Great, more snakes,” I groaned. I promised myself in that moment, I was going to get a lot faster at activating Time Compression. I looked to Ward and asked, “Please tell me the hydrasnake queen’s meat is good for something.”
“Agility,” Ward answered. “But don’t count on it. It is very rare that people gain anything from less than a Master or Grandmaster Body Rank.”
“What about the quilldogs?” I asked.
“Below Excellent I think, but it might only be Above Good,” Ward answered. “I don’t think anyone has ever bothered to capture a quilldog alive to give it a full scan. In fact, I doubt any beast has ever been fully scanned.”
I was bothered once again by the lack of scientific research. I didn’t get the highest grade in pharmacology in medical school, but I did well enough. I knew that all manner of medications had been created from plants and even some animals. If Chinese medication was anything to go by, animal parts were able to cure everything depending on
the part, even though there wasn’t much for scientific proof. I had a feeling, especially after the effects of eating that squirbit yesterday, that the Chinese medicine might just work in this world.
Sighing, I shook the thoughts away. I couldn’t worry about that right now. I needed to keep up. Right now, I needed to grow and increase my Ability points if I ever wanted to go home.
“What should I expect when we get to the nest?” I asked, running just behind Light and Ward.
“More swarms,” Ward said.
“Hydrasnake royal guards,” Light said, then added, “They are just a little bigger than the regular variety. And they are a darker blue color.”
As we ran, I began to feel weariness seep into the muscles in my legs and my lungs burn with the effort. I was really wishing I had done more running and less cycling. It also made me understand Light’s desire to boost his Stamina.
When I got my first look at the nest. It was chaos. Hammer Jack was standing in the middle of a hole in the ground with sloped sides and a few tunnel entrances going in various directions. It was about then I decided that Hammer could do with a psychiatric evaluation. He was punching seven-headed snakes and crushing them with a single blow, all while laughing and taunting the beasts.
Planet Hero- Civilian Page 10