Energy Eater - Chapter 20 - Leaving the Mountain (Patreon)

The very first thing I did when I woke up was jumping to my feet. The possibility that the Eater would reach the cave was still fresh in my mind. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case, and for now, this place was still safe. 

“Sys, now I’m Tier 1, right?”

[Correct. User Cassandra has reached tier 1 and class Formless monk has been acquired. User also has three skills to pick from. Formless Boar Charge, Formless Steps of Prey, and Formless Series.]

“Open my status, please.”

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Cassandra Ydorf - Level 1
Titles: Enduring Heart
Tier 1 - Formless Monk

Mind 3 - Body - 7
Memory - 5 Energy - 4/6 (2 Reserved)

Skills - 5/5

Quick Tier 1 Evolution - Passive
Energy Storage - Passive - 1 Energy
Memory Bank - Passive - 1 Energy
Body Regeneration - Active - 1 Energy/ 10 minutes
Compression - Active - 1 Energy/ 5 uses

Mind of Possibility - Unavailable
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“Oh? I got some extra Energy? Nice. Tell me something, {Quick Tier 1 Evolution} does anything now?”

[Skill {Quick Tier 1 Evolution} has no effect now that user is at Tier 1.]

“Ok, put that in {Memory Bank}. Along with Formless Boar Charge. Add Formless Series to my skills and Formless Steps of Prey.”

[Acknowledged. However, the process will take two hours as {Quick Tier 1 Evolution} is a skill of the Aspirant rank.]

“That’s ok, can you hold on to Formless Steps of Prey until then? Or do I need to put it in {Memory Bank}?”

[System is able to hold on to skills for a maximum of 10 hours. The only exception to this limit is when user gains a new class. In that case, the 10-hour period starts from the moment user has finished the advancement and became aware of available skills.]

“Perfect. Do that. We are leaving the cave today, but I’ll wait for that change. I want to have the new skills available to me”

[Acknowledged. System will warn user once the skills are in place.]

“Thank you,” since that was going to take a while,I started preparing to leave. First step, refilling the waterskin. Followed by eating some of the jerky from yesterday. I shouldn’t have that many problems finding food if I’m walking away from the mountain. The second step was taking the tanned leather and making something with it. Probably just a sack, but using the scraps of lion leather, it should be possible to make something to tie the bag on my waist. 

Once on the terrace, I could see the sky and the dark clouds looming over the horizon. Hopefully, it wouldn’t rain. Then again, if it did, that could help hide any noise I make while getting away from here. 

My idea for the sack was to just pull all the corners of the leather together and open a few small holes near the opening. Then I could create a cord with the lion hide to connect them all together and then another rope skin for the sack to be tied to my waist. However, the problem was the size difference. While the lion was large, the scraps of leather were not, and I was able to kill the boar without damaging most of its skin.

“Sys, quick question. What will happen if I use {Compression} on something that has two parts? Like this bag and the rope tying it up?”

[There are two possibilities. User might use only 1 charge of the skill to change the size of the object, or user will require 1 charge per each individual piece that makes the whole object.]

“What’s the cut point? Like my shirt. I know for a fact that it was made in two pieces. Is it just about sewing things together, or something beyond that?”

[System does not have enough data to confirm what the requirements are.]

“Ok then, let’s try, in a few moments,” quickly going to work, I prepared the boar skin to create this bag. Then, using the first charge of {Compression} of the day, I shrunk it down from a piece of skin almost my size to something around the size of a watermelon. That was still much larger than I wanted to, but considering the weight distribution, it felt better to do it like that and put the lion rope around it. Maybe like that, it wouldn’t end up ripping apart as more things were placed inside the sack. Making small horizontal cuts near the opening, I created belt hoops for the sack. 

The lion rope was enough to cover the entire circumference of the bag, plus to tie around my waist several times. Yet, it wasn’t supposed to be like that. Using {Compression} again, I tried to turn the entire thing to its final size. This time, however, I paid more attention to what the particles were doing. Being at tier 1 meant I was on the same tier of the skill. And according to the System, skills couldn’t show their true power unless you were at least on the same tier as the skill itself.

It didn’t take long to notice the change, and it was a strange one. Now, instead of just having the SP shifting the size of the object, there was another sensation. The particles first created a model of the size I wanted, something that was about the size of my head, and then the particles that covered the leather bag changed its size rapidly. Basically, now the desired size became a mark, and the particles didn’t have to constantly check if they had reached their goal after every change. Unfortunately, I also noticed doing this cost me 2 charges of {Compression}. The mixture of boar and leather lion was not enough to make the SP recognize it all as a single entity. 

Despite that, the bag I spent the last days preparing was finally ready. With the rest of the lion leather, first I spent another charge of {Compression} to not just make it all smaller, but also sturdier. While working with the pelts, it became clear that if the size changed, it became harder to cut. A likely explanation was that as fibers shrunk, any attempted damage would be split between the different strands forming the leather that now occupied a smaller space. This meant that any armor I tried to make using this would be stronger than what they would be on their regular sizes.

The last thing was creating a strap for the waterskin. It was a bit longer than my arm, and using some more lion rope, I tied the two pieces together. Since the skin was already filled, I could use my belt to tie it around the sack, and finally, I was ready. Or so I wished. The fact was, doing all that took me about one hour and a half. There were still 30 minutes before the skills were in place.

With nothing else to do, I started warming up by practicing with my staff. This time, using the sun as inspiration. A powerful ball of fire that emanated warmth, but if that light was concentrated, it could become a deadly attack. My movements focused on wide arcs and blows that could connect well with each other. With a powerful stab at the finishing blow. It was a bit fun thinking about all that, even if the idea was very crude and very similar to the tail swiped from Draco. During the entire time, the Eater was nowhere to be seen. For the first time since I arrived at the cave, there were no signs of it anywhere. No sounds of metal grinding against metal, no pained screams of animals that were caught in its jaws, no trees being pushed around, nothing. 

But that either meant very little, or that I was in a lot of trouble. Then again, I was in trouble either way. The Eater being gone only meant that one of those creatures was not around, and if it was hiding, well. Eaters would travel across those mountains every now and then. If I had some bad luck, I would have to hide from them either way. That was just one extra possible monster to fight against. 

I waited, and soon, the System sent a message.

[Skill {Formless Steps of Prey} has been added. The following skills have been stored in the skill memory bank: {Quick Tier 1 Evolution}.]

“Perfect, let’s get out of here.” 

Climbing up the terrace, once more I arrived at the forest in the mountain. In my bag were some shrunken scraps of leather, the two blankets that also had their size reduced, and a handful of jerky. Likely enough for two, maybe three, meals. By the side, still on my waist, was the waterskin and around my arms and legs, the lion leather was working as vambraces and greaves.My shirt was mostly ripped, only covering my breasts and the massive scar covering my torso was a constant reminder of the price I paid to get the System. My pants were mostly intact, with a couple of rips here and there, but nothing that destroyed the integrity of it. That’s why I liked loose pants. It was easier to just push the fabric away instead of ripping it with an attack.

Before starting to move, I looked back at the forest below. Part of me hoped to see the Eater. Even if it was the most dangerous thing on the mountains, knowing where it was would be better than thinking it’s missing. But it was no longer there. The only option was to move on. Doing one last check to make sure nothing I needed was being left behind. I turned east and started walking.

Going down to the forest in front of the cave was the only way to leave the mountain itself. All other directions had steep drops filled with jagger rocks, or the ground was simply too unstable to give proper footing. But this time, one of those paths would have to suffice. The idea was to go through the eastern side. Yes, that was filled with the tall cliffs, but it was just one massive drop. Using {Compression} maybe I could have the pole working as an elevator again. 

It didn’t take long before I started moving along the edge, looking for the best spot to leave. Everything seemed so different for some reason. And it wasn’t just because I reached tier 1. Even with the dark clouds getting closer and closer, the world seemed brighter, more lively, more wonderful. I had survived a fight with an Eater, hunted several mutated beasts, including a mountain lion, reached tier 1, and now I was ready to search for Pops or anyone who survived after the Eaters reached my home. 

“This is it,” I stopped next to a tree growing on the edge of the mountain. There was a small outcropping below, but the rocks there were jagged and a person wouldn’t be able to use that as a foothold. But a metal staff was another thing entirely. 

Double checking, I still had 4 Energy available and 1 use of {Compression}. Unfortunately, {Mind of Possibility} was still unavailable, and it would take a while for it to recover. And {Energy Storage} only had 12 Energy in case I needed it. While still looking over everything and trying to figure out the past angle to go for, a raindrop hit my forehead. 

“Shit. If it starts to rain while I’m going down, I’m fucked,” with a groan I sent all caution to the wind. Putting out my hand holding the staff I triggered {Compression} telling the pole to become 10 meters [32ft] tall. It slammed against the rocks and embedded itself amongst them. Sliding down the pole like the old firemen was quick, and thanks to my high level of Body, I was able to stop myself before slamming against the rocks. {Compression} triggered again, making the iron staff small, and I repeated the process one more time. Another 10 meters [32ft] down and all that was left was a small jump that happened just as the rain started to fall. 

I was free. I managed to escape that mountain, and there was nothing stopping me from searching for my family. 

Or so I thought. 

During my descent, my focus was on moving quickly and safely. But not quietly. My mind was racing too much as the staff hit against the rocks, my eyes too focused on where I needed to aim for me to register the loud clanging sound that happened every time {Compression} was triggered. 

Just as my feet landed on the ground in front of this side of the mountain, and the rain started, a loud sound of grinding metal and trees being violently pushed away echoed from the edge of the forest to my right. All the noise I made called the Eater here. 

Without wasting even a second, I turned towards the road a few hundred meters [yards] in front of me and started running with everything I got. Fuck killing that shit, I just want to live. 

#### Author's note ####
Another cliffhanger I know, but don't worry, I won't do that again before solving what needs to be solved. I hope you are all enjoying the story and let me know in the comments what you think
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