Spearbound Ch. 66

“Is it the goblins? Has there been news that I missed about stronger monsters roaming Earth?” Kade said, sending a message to Finn.

He could see them rapidly approaching Chicago. Hellion’s flying was faster than his running, even with his weight added.

Finn: Not that I’m aware of. A nuclear bomb exploded over Lake Michigan. I’m still gathering information to get the full picture, and I’ll pass it onto you when I do.

Kade stared at the interface before twisting his head to look back. He gaped at the mushroom cloud that towered on the horizon.

That was where he had activated [Inferno Burst].

Kade vaguely recalled the System telling him it was possible for individual humans to be more powerful than nukes. He didn’t know he had already reached that point.

He had been at the epicenter of that explosion and all he felt was a slight warmness.

“That was me. I went overboard trying to get rid of some monsters,” Kaid said. It was a poor explanation, but the priority was to stop panic from spreading, if possible.

Finn: … Understood.

Finn’s incredulousness was apparent, even through the words in the interface.

Kade instructed Hellion to fly slower. Since he was the reason for Finn’s concern, he had no reason to return quickly.

He checked his clothes, expecting them to be burnt away as usual. To his pleasant surprise, he only found minor scorch marks. He hadn’t expected the Nullweave Cloak to expand its properties to everything it absorbed.

With his personal concerns dealt with, Kade’s thoughts returned to the goblins. “Where did you find those monsters, Hellion?”

Small groups of goblins and gnawers dotted around the city. More joining every minute. Avoiding groups of humans. Killing lone stragglers.

“Damn it,” Kade cursed after getting the image from Hellion. Something was terribly wrong. “Finn, monsters that should be in a Class F rift zone are roaming near the city. Warn everyone you can.”

He reversed his order to Hellion, and they were once again speeding to Chicago. They were flying over the shore when he got a reply.

Finn: Our members received the message, with instructions to forward it to other groups.

Hellion flew through the Chicago skyline with the [Soulrend] grasped in his claws and Kade hanging off that. It was undignified, but he cared little as he looked down at the city.

It’s beautiful.

The meld of nature and manmade structures made it look like art. Kade let Hellion satisfy his curiosity by looking into the empty floors of the skyscrapers before directing his companion to the hotel.

The place was deserted compared to before, and the few remaining people had little combat power. Still, all of them stared with wide eyes at Hellion, then at Kade, unable to comprehend what they were seeing.

It was understandable. Hellion was technically a monster that could rip them apart with ease, and he was the leader that should protect them from such monsters, not be friendly with them.

Kade made his first contribution to his organization’s public chat. “I have claimed a high-level ember falcon as my companion. As long as you are respectful to Hellion, there is no reason to fear him.”

He didn’t bother to look at the reactions to his message and looked at Hellion. “Stay inside the city, and try not to scare anyone.”

Hellion screeched and took off with a burst of flame, making the onlookers flinch. He rolled his eyes at the flamboyant departure and made his way to Eliza’s room.

Kade intended to use the time Finn was busy to have a needed talk with her. He paused outside the door when he heard the tail end of a conversation.

“—put a healer in every team that attempts a rift zone. It might cause casualties, but it’ll make us much more useful than we are now.”

Celine’s explanation reminded Kade that he had forgotten to bring the matter up with Finn.

“That’s a great idea! I’ll bring it up with Finn and recommend you to take the lead on this.”

“Oh… Shouldn’t Kade be involved?”

“Kade would be at his happiest if he was never involved in anything like this,” Eliza said through chuckles.

Kade backed away, changing his mind about speaking to Eliza. She made the right choice in not involving him, and he wasn’t about to invite the opposite by butting in.

If Eliza naturally took over leadership without him having to place her there, it would be even better, since it would look like she earned her place in the members’ eyes.

Kade returned to his room to get more rest to speed up his recovery. The detour to ‘rescue’ Hellion wasn’t a complete nuisance since he discovered the Class F monsters.

Still, he would like to pretend it never happened while he could. He was sure there would be plenty of questions about the ‘nuke.’

***

Twelve hours, thirty-three minutes, and eleven seconds.

Kade was aware of every second that passed as he lay in the bed. He never had a true sleep after the world changed, but he had still fallen into a trance that mimicked it.

Now, even that was impossible. He had been trying for twelve hours, thirty-three minutes, and fifty-three seconds without success.

If it hadn’t been the speed at which his health recovered, he would’ve gotten up a long time ago. It wasn’t even possible to browse the interface since it would severely reduce the recovery, leaving him to do his best to keep his mind blank, which most of the time was unsuccessful.

Kade frowned when he heard the interface trying to get his attention. He still needed a few more hours to get back to a hundred percent.

The interface flashed bright enough that he could see it through his closed eyelids. He sighed and took himself out of the odd non-sleep state.

Finn: Mr. Beckett, there has been a noticeable uptick in casualties. Ms. Brooks wants to send out curated groups immediately to hunt down the new monsters and stop the situation from worsening. Most of the members are resistant to the idea, but your input would sway them.

Kade raised his brow as he stood, activating the Nullweave Cloak to re-clothe himself. “It sounds like you are in favor of Eliza’s plan, Finn.”

He checked the other message he received.

Eliza: Finn is a grouchy old man.

Kade snorted and dismissed it. “I may not fully trust him, but the man has a tough job. Go easy on him. And only message me for emergencies.”

Finn wasn’t anywhere near the age to be called old, but with the way Eliza acted outside a rift zone, he supposed most would look old.

Eliza: Define ‘emergency,’ because I happen to be next to a grouchy old man.

Kade rolled his eyes, though it was with a smile. Still, he didn’t reply in fear of encouraging her.

Finn: Ms. Brooks is in the right of things, so yes, I’m in favor. If you agree, please send a message in the public chat. It will go a long way in convincing the others.

He scratched his chin and went an extra step. He pulled up the ignored public chat and disregarded the streams of messages flying past him.

“All decisions made by Eliza and Finn are with my support. I don’t have the time to manage the organization day-to-day, so their words are mine, too.”

Kade dismissed the interface without looking at the surge of replies. He checked on Hellion and immediately felt boredom pushed through the bond.

He sympathized with Hellion, and with Eliza’s recovery, he was ready to leave Chicago and find another rift zone.

However, Kade recognized he escaped a Class D rift zone from sheer dumb luck, and without Eliza, he would have died, even with all the luck in the world.

Ideally, he would select another Class D rift zone to hone his skills and better prepare himself for the next level, but that wasn’t possible. Kade was at [Arcana Level 55], and that barred him from entering a Class D rift zone.

Whatever he would experience in Class C would likely kill him in his current state, but that familiar feeling of excitement from facing danger sprouted in his heart.

Kade didn’t feel much of that in the Class D rift zone because of worrying about Eliza and the strange circumstances that occurred, so he had no intention of going in with a partner this time. Other than Hellion, of course.

He also had the curiosity of the type of corrupted worlds that the rift zones were. The higher level a rift zone was, the more complete of a world he expected.

Kade didn’t have the foolish hope of acting like a hero, but he wanted to see every state a corrupted world could be in.

Eliza: You saying my name first upset the old man, but he got over it quickly. I think I’ll keep him as my vice-dictator.

He stared at the message before dismissing it with a sigh. He would not interfere as long as order prevailed and strengthening humanity remained the priority.

Kade activated [Suppression], the ability of the cloak, for the first time, and left the hotel. He wanted to stay under the radar as he investigated the origin of the Class F monsters.