ALL NOVEL Chapter 40. Exchange
"Nikra, the Lady of Darkness. She is the first Old One to appear and grace the Universe with her magnificence. Beautiful and eternal are the words that describe our Lady best, yet even they can barely encompass the Darkness' majesty.
Some might call her weak for the lack of a second aspect, but those are all lies! Darkness is hiding everywhere, even in our hearts. And our Lady can feel it, control it and twist it to her will. Never doubt that, or it will be the last thing you do."
~Those who came before us by Unknown, Published before the 1st Outbreak
For a brief period, perhaps a minute or even five, an atmosphere of complete silence pervaded the entire room. Looks were exchanged every now and then between the trio, some pained, some thoughtful. Leo didn't speak; there was no need to. He would rather give them time to process everything and form questions worth asking.
"I..." Tyler tried to break the stillness, only to shake his head lightly. "How long do ya plan to wait? If... if what I'm thinking is true, then I can understand your hesitation, mate. But... you're holding yourself back, and..." The warrior's voice trailed off, his gaze shifting towards Laura.
A subtle attempt at manipulation, but not without a good point. I can't really wait much longer…
Leo ran a hand through his hair, grimacing at the grime it collected. "I know. Trust me, I know. I got locked only this morning, but with how many Voidlings I killed on the way, I could have leveled up already."
Looking at the evolution menu that appeared in front of his eyes, Leo sighed. "I have a perfect evolution ready, maybe even as strong as the Apex one. It will change me, though. Probably a lot." He chuckled humorlessly. "Don't get me wrong, I will use it. Only a daft person wouldn't. But first, I must find Nick. At least someone has to know that I didn't go barmy before I evolve."
Dylan smirked as he leaned forward and gave Leo a reassuring pat on the back. "Don't fret, lad. Even if you were to evolve right here, right now, we would still recognize the person hidden underneath that ugly mug."
Leo snorted, accepting the attempt to lighten the mood. "And don't you forget it... When we arrive at the other group, you will be the ones to explain to them why you're traveling with a monster."
"We will do that and more, right Tyler?" Laura smiled lightly, her cousin nodding in agreement.
"Aye," Tyler took over from the girl. "You cleared the street and eased Laura's pain. Bloody hell, you might even heal her completely if you evolve... Convincing some folks of who you are is the least we can do, mate. You can count on us."
Leo nodded with a smile. How a single act of kindness can change a person's opinion of another... I just hope his attitude will stop jumping around if I heal Laura completely.
"Then I suppose it's settled," Leo declared as he stood up from the ground. "I will go now and hopefully return with my family before dawn. There is more than enough time left if I don't stop on the way... Then I can evolve and heal Laura fully before we leave for the old trainyard."
Following, Dylan also rose and extended his hand, which Leo quickly accepted, squeezing tightly. "Aye, that sounds like a plan... Thanks again, Leo. We would have been in a deep shite if it weren't for you. Now come, I will walk you out. There's still somethin' I want to ask you about."
Oh? I just hope it won't take too long. Nick's house might only be two blocks away, but the way back will be much harder with three other people. Even worse if any of them are injured…
Frowning, Leo held his hand up to stop Dylan. "Just a second," he called out as he undid the wrappings around the hunter rifle attached to his backpack. "Take it. I have been dragging it around like an idiot without firing more than five bullets. You three will probably find more use for it."
Dylan's eyes widened as Leo handed him the rifle. "Mate, we can't take this from you," he protested, cradling the bloodied weapon. It had definitely seen better days, but with everything Leo had gone through, its condition was more than understandable.
Leo shook his head, pushing the rifle back into Dylan's hands. "Like I said, I don't need it. Besides, in its current state, this thing is more of a danger than an advantage."
And it's limiting my movement. A backpack is one thing, a rifle over half as long as my body is another. Leo thought with a well-hidden grimace. He had been thinking of abandoning the gun for a while now.
Suddenly Tyler's voice broke Leo out of his musing. "I can clean it," he admitted, taking the rifle from Dylan and carefully flipping it over. "Our old man had a similar one and took me with him a few times. Had to learn how to take it apart and put it back together, or he wouldn't even let me near his baby."
Ah, so it was one of those. Leo chuckled. "Well. In this case, you already know more than I do. The most I'm capable of is aiming and firing... And even then, I'm far from the best."
Dylan frowned as he watched his friend inspect the rifle. "I still reckon you shouldn't be givin' it to us. Especially when you're going out."
Suppressing the urge to roll his eyes, Leo was prepared to swiftly dismiss any additional objections. Thankfully, the youngest member in the room interjected, saving him from another argument.
"Let it go, Dylan," Tyler murmured, extracting the magazine from the rifle. "Bloke's right. Shite's clogged and dirty. Doubt it'll even shoot." The warrior shifted his attention towards Leo. "Where in the bloody hell have you been with this thing?"
"Trust me, you don't want to know," Leo smirked. Where he hadn't been? That was a much better question. Not one he would answer, though.
Tyler shrugged, "Whatever suits you, mate... Now, do you have any more ammo? One full mag is nice and all, but won't last for long if some bloody wankers knock on our doors."
Right, I almost forgot... Quickly digging into his pack, Leo retrieved the scope and ammo boxes. "Here. Should be enough, eh?"
As Dylan took the offered items, Leo noticed Tyler watching them with slightly widened eyes. "Enough?" he almost stuttered. "I suppose I wasn't the only one in the family with a huntin' maniac. Or did you find it on the way here?"
Leo let out a chuckle as the memory of his foster father crossed his mind. "The former," he murmured, bowing his head. "I'm somewhat amazed that our fathers had never met... Or maybe they did, and we just..."
A hand fell on Leo's shoulder when he trailed off. "Listen, lad," Dylan said, meeting his eyes. "We've all lost someone to this bullshit. So if you wanna talk, don't be afraid to ask. No matter for how long, we are a team now, and a team supports each other."
Yeah, let's not get too ahead of ourselves...
Nonetheless, Leo just answered. "I appreciate it, but my dad isn't dead," but Edward is. "He was out of the country when the Outbreak came, and if there is anyone who can survive this, it's him... Now, I really should get going."
Swinging the pack onto his back, Leo nodded to the other two in the room and headed for the door. Footsteps followed shortly after, and he smiled lightly when a voice reached his ears.
"Wait up, mate!" Dylan called out, and Leo stopped near the blocked exit. "I apologize if I came on too strong. I didn't mean anythin' bad with what I said. I've known Laura and Tyler for a long time, and with you being a similar age, I guess I overstepped."
Turning to face the older man, Leo sighed. "No harm done, man," he waved him off. "You just wanted to help, and I can respect that. Just... let's try to avoid the subject of my family, okay? At least for now."
"You got it, lad," Dylan grinned. "Also, about that thing I wanted to ask."
Stopping the inventory of his weaponry, Leo quirked an eyebrow. "Right, I forgot. What is it?"
Leaning against the wall, Dylan nodded toward Leo's hands. "Before we came out to help you, I noticed you usin' shadows in your attack," he explained, and Leo nodded. "I wanted to ask how you gained that technique. From what the bloke who passed by told us, assassins didn't get any of those."
Hold up... techniques? Is he just talking about an affinity, or am I missing something? I didn't really want to reveal too much about my skills, but if this is a chance to get some more info, then I will bite.
Brow furrowed, Leo voiced his question. "Technique? You mean affinity, right?"
"Affinity?" The man muttered as his eyes widened. "Right... of course, you would already have one. Bloody hell, what did you go through those past few days?"
A lot, but it doesn't really matter now. Leo grumbled internally. "Okay, man, now you are confusing me. What does my affinity have to do with a technique? Is it another name for skill or what?"
Dylan shook his head. "No, nothin' like that. Let me explain quickly..." At Leo's raised eyebrow, the man elaborated. "Right. You see, in the beginning, Mages received two skills and one basic technique chosen from five available options instead of the usual three skills."
This word again…
"Now, to put it simply, techniques are heavily System-assisted abilities related to an affinity," Dylan explained. "They have their own menu and ranking. Although I can't see the rank of the one I have. The wonders of not having an affinity, I guess," he finished with a grumble.
"Apart from that, all I know is that a technique can be created by focusing on a particular aspect of your affinity or, well, a technique. Besides that, I don't know much. Without an affinity, the System wasn't too forthcoming with information."
System-assisted? Apart from Vital Strike, I don't really have anything similar... I wonder why I didn't get one yet. Is it really that hard to create? Yet another thing to test later on…
"Can I see it?" Leo asked. He couldn't deny his curiosity.
Dylan nodded. "Sure, mate." Almost instantly, the fingers of his right hand lit up with blue lightning. Sparks danced across his entire hand, casting a soft glow on the man's dark skin.
Holy shit. It takes me much longer to form my shadow weapons. Is that why it is not a technique yet?
"I only fuel Essence and give the System a command," Dylan explained, slowly rotating his hand. "After the System finishes its job, I have total control over the technique, or in this case, I decide when to fire or dismiss it."
Quite handy, not having to constantly hold my Essence.
"Is it strong enough to kill?"
Dylan grimaced. "If I manage to hit an eye or a weak spot, then sure, but anything else, and I'll just take a chunk of flesh out of them. Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll paralyze 'em for a moment."
Leo almost whistled. For something so simple, it seemed pretty strong. Especially considering that Mages had it from the beginning. "Useful," he commented.
Dylan shrugged, a grin on his face as the lightning flickered away. "Not as useful as having an affinity, is it?"
You got me there. If I can create my own techniques, then the potential is really endless. It makes me wonder if there is something different than a True Affinity. Gonna need to ask him later…
"Fair enough," he finally admitted with a chuckle, refusing to continue this subject, at least for now. They wasted enough time as it was.
Pushing the shelf that covered the entrance away, Leo addressed Dylan for the last time. "I'll be back in a few hours. Try not to get surrounded by a small army again, hmm?"
"Aye, we will do just that," Dylan laughed. "Take care, mate. Until we meet again."
Leo smiled.
Until we meet again.
