Weapons of Mass Destruction

Chapter 589: Gray kitten

I open my eyes back in the common area. After glancing over the notifications, I close them all and move the rewards from winning the 4th event towards the final reward.

Only one event remains.

My body is restored to its previous state, and all the changes I made to it at the start of the 4th event are gone. Only a series of memories remains, along with many things I should improve on.

There is also the name of a person I will never forget, safely stored in my mind.

Sensing someone trying to get my attention, I turn to see Victoria standing at the edge of the common area.

With a single use of Wraith Dance, I reach her and meet her gaze. In front of her, I donʼt try to hide anything or pretend. Just like when we were younger, she reaches out, pinches my nose, and ruffles my hair.

Coming from her, it makes for an incredibly warm gesture.

”I’m going to cook something for you, so come to the 4th zone later today,” she says.

”Vic, you can’t cook to save your life, and neither can I.”

”You always liked the pancakes I made.”

”And I would prefer eating them over a Michelin-star meal.”

”So, as I said, come to the 4th round zone later.”

”I will, Vic.”

”Good. See you later, Natty,” she says as she leaves.

I watch her figure disappear into the forest before she uses more strength and moves in a way a superhuman from comics would, something I would consider impossible on Earth. Then a thought hits me: what superhero would someone from Hell difficulty be able to defeat?

As I muse over the list, I head towards Savantʼs signature, and seeing me approach, he waits for me. There, I create a manabloc chair and take a seat next to the bench he is sitting on, and look at him. He returns my gaze as well.

”What do you want to start with?” I ask him simply.

He simply answers, ”We could start with kinetic energy. Your performance in the last event piqued my curiosity, and I think the process of talking through it will help you understand what you experienced.”

I look at him, thinking about all he would seem to know, but decide not to dwell on it.

”What skill are you using to absorb kinetic energy?” I ask.

”Is it required for you to know in order to help me?”

”Not really, but Iʼm curious. And itʼs not like I donʼt have a general idea, do you agree? One of my skillsʼ names in exchange for yours?”

”I could do that,” he confirms.

”Thatʼs surprising.”

”Why?”

”I thought you would be more tight-lipped, given how much of a lone wolf you are.”

”As you said, itʼs something you likely already suspect. And you might think I consider you all enemies, but thatʼs not the case. I try to maintain a neutral position with everyone here; I harbor neither ill nor good feelings for any of you. In the future, we might even need to cooperate in some limited capacity.”

”So you’re building up good relationships?”

”I wouldnʼt call it that. Things like that require time and effort; all around, it’s a hassle I’m not interested in. As for my skill, itʼs called [Absorption]. As you’ve likely guessed, it allows me to absorb attacks to release them later or to examine, if Iʼm capable of doing so. A few weeks ago, I managed to absorb a tiny bit of kinetic energy, and ever since the 1st floor, I’ve been able to absorb body parts as well.”

”As you said, our group already had it all more or less figured out. So you have some lumoran Championʼs hand, the forearm bone of some kind of tough monster or person, one of your legs also seems to have been replaced, and possibly some of your inner organs? Grumpy also theorizes that one of your eyes, or at least part of it, has been absorbed.”

”I wonʼt answer that.”

”Thatʼs understandable. Mine is [Redistribution]. As you probably have guessed, it allows me to absorb kinetic and thermal energy from the area around me. I can’t quite use it to turn that energy into mana yet, but I also have a way to transfer my mana into kinetic energy.”

”And that second heart of yours.”

”Just silly rumors.”

”Want to hear more silly rumors?”

”Why not.”

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”Two hearts, kinetic and thermal, an eye trait connected to mana, likely a wavelength type, an Amplificator, a concentration type skill, and an array of self-made constructs etched into your body,” he pauses for a moment, ”a stupid thing to do if I have to say so. The mana stone I left with your healer should’ve confirmed just how risky body modifications can be.”

”Very silly rumors indeed, and I know.”

”Then there’s that black mana of yours. Do you know that during our duel in the last tournament, I absorbed a tiny piece of it and examined it?”

That makes my curiosity spike, and I observe him more closely: his heartbeat and the tiniest movements of his body as I try to grasp what he is thinking.

He continues, ”I suspect that itʼs an extremely dense form of mana, the kind of thing you were only able to create because of your high grade concentration skill, talent in [Mana Manipulation], or some higher grade version of the skill, and your ability to channel huge amounts of mana so quickly. But that probably isnʼt all; that would just be too easy. At first, I thought it was primordial void energy, but I’ve since met users of that primordial energy, and itʼs not that. Then I theorized it was a different sort of primordial energy, something beyond the common five, and it still seems to be the closest guess I have. It could also be just a rare variation of mana you were able to gain thanks to a series of fortuitous events.”

”I bought it in a system shop sale.”

As before, he doesnʼt seem amused, so we continue as per our deal, and I teach him some of the basics of kinetic energy. Some concepts I came up with on my own, and some that I got from Lioren.

I donʼt try to hide things from him, and I don’t worry about the possibility of ”giving him a weapon that could be used against me.”

Everything I show him, he understands quickly. I watch as he catches on, comes to his own conclusions, and attempts to apply them. Sometimes, he even seems to ignore what Iʼm saying and continues pushing through his failures as he tries to perform the movement or exercise. It never takes him too many attempts. With his sharp, near-clinical sense, he breaks down everything I’ve shown him and demonstrates his talent.

I’ve heard people making fun of his Community alias, calling himself Savant and all. They said he’s arrogant, edgy, and all manner of other things. But not once have I heard anyone say that he was wrong. Everyone who meets this guy and sees his understanding and the speed at which he learns and absorbs the abilities shown to him finds it nothing less than impressive.

Of course, it wonʼt stop me from calling him a coward. He might say heʼs playing the long game and being patient, but I disagree.

After the lesson, I leave so that he can have some time to train on his own for a bit, and I enter the 7th roundʼs zone. People recognize me as I enter their common area, and the barrier they set puts a mark on me that at least some of the people hanging around can track.

Surprisingly, the first one to talk to me isnʼt human.

”Brother, over here,” the childlike voice calls to me.

I stop and look down at my feet.

“Brother, may I have some food?” asks the little chubby kitten at my feet. It’s light gray and perfectly round, covered in soft, fuzzy fur. It looks like a fluffy ball with a chubby face and pale blue eyes that hardly seem to blink.

”What?”

”Have I spoken wrong?” the kitten replies, its mouth moving a beat too late like it’s trying to remember that mouths are supposed to move when speaking.

”Why do you talk like that?” I ask.

The gray kitten tilts its head. ”There was a young human who taught me these words, brother. He and others always laughed when I said them and always gave me food. Even now, people do that.”

I squat down. It’s hard to tell how strong it is, just like with Noodle. But there’s a kind of weight to the kitten, like something heavy is trying to hiding inside something small.

It keeps speaking, unprompted, still staring up with those emotionless eyes. ”That boy died on the 4th floor. The Black Ant took his insides, brother.”

Now I notice that no one tries to move closer. In fact, they seem to actively avoid the little kitten. I even sense a hint of fear in the people around me.

Wordlessly, I look into those eyes, and as they look into mine, I’m overcome with a disturbing feeling, as if they’re trying to pull me in.

”Brother, where is the one who marked you?” the kitten asks, and for the first time, its expression changes. It looks eager, but I can’t guess the intention behind it, it lacks any hint of friendliness. Instead, tiny sharp teeth make themselves visible for longer than they perhaps should be.

”Get away from him!” someone shouts, and I recognize the voice as Lunaʼs.

The golden retriever stands nearby, currently making herself bigger than a horse. She is growling, and her fur is raised as she stares threateningly at the little kitten.

Even then, she doesnʼt dare to come closer.

That gray kitten returns her gaze without so much as being taken aback and instead stands up to slowly walk away. It glances backward at me once and licks its lips before making its way into the forest.

Finally, Luna steps closer, ”Avoid him, crazy human, that thing is no good.”

She shrinks back to her normal size and nudges my side until I pet the top of her head.

”Is it really a little kitten?” I ask.

”No one knows for sure; itʼs the only one surviving in its Hell difficulty group. But enough of that creepy thing. What do you want here? Have you come to apologize? Did you know your avatar killed me during the last event? How will you repay me for that?”

”You should have killed him before he could.”

”I cannot fly, unlike your cowardly avatar. How was I supposed to bite him, then?”

”Thatʼs true.” I pet her again to get another tail wag out of her. ”I came to see Leticia.”

Luna looks at me and squints her eyes before snorting and starting to walk away, and I follow at her side.

”You know what they call you?” she asks out of nowhere as we enter the forest.

”Excuse me?”

”The people from the different zones, I mean. They call you Manahead, Flashbang, The Detonator, Mana Junkie, The Glitch Mage, Mana Daddy...”

”Okay, okay, letʼs stop there.”

”Sure. Simply put, there is a lot of talk, crazy human. I heard there was even a small group declaring you a messiah, another one was collecting videos and photos of you, and some of them are planning to kill you, saying that you’re just too dangerous to be allowed on Earth.”

Luna pauses and a dry laugh escapes her, ”They all used to talk that way about their own tournament winners, but during this tournament, you’ve attracted a lot of that negative attention to yourself. I even heard some of the other rounds are joining forces to take you down in the final event.”

”Is the 7th round one of them?” I ask.

She laughs again, ”Who knows.”