The Eternal Winter - Chapter 7 - Strange Energy (Patreon)

                                                         Alexander North

I stare at the words flashing over my eyes for a few seconds before closing out of my terminal, raising my hands to my face, and taking off my gloves. Just to find my hands looking extremely pale but with sharp, black claws sticking out of the tips of each finger instead of regular fingernails.

But those weren’t there when I had first woken up. Why are they there now?

I stare at them for a few seconds before remembering that they had come out right when I had wondered where the holes came from.

Maybe…?

I focus on the claws while willing them to retract, and they do just that.

Interesting.

So I have retractable claws now, along with a body that is about 1.5 times as strong as it was before. Is there anything else different?

I look around at my surroundings, only to quickly remember the sight thing.

Why am I able to see as if there wasn’t a blizzard going on around me? And what are those red… wait.

If that were the case… could it be?

I begin walking forwards while feeling a little bit off balance due to the new physical capabilities of my body, but I ignore it to climb up the ledge and look out over the base.

“I have infra-red vision,” I mutter at the sight of several red auras surrounding the much larger monsters, with a couple of smaller, faint red auras hiding behind the doors leading inside the base.

Huh. It looks like only the large brute-like monsters actually have body heat. The others are all just as cold as the blizzard.

But if I have infra-red vision, then why can I see like normal as well? It’s like I have both regular vision and infra-red stacked on top of each other… not to mention the fact that I can practically see through the snow and ice of this blizzard as if it were a ghost or something.

After considering it for a few seconds, I shake my head and instead focus on looking through the rest of my body for any other changes.

Which quickly brings my attention to the fact that it wasn’t just the injury from the shard that healed, but every injury I had. Including the one from the wendigo-like monster’s claws and the one on my head from the terminal hitting me earlier.

Why did this happen? Does the infection not always turn you? Or is there something else?

I don’t have that light blue glow that the other monsters have where their heart should be, so maybe… wait… heart?

Could that be why I didn’t turn? At least not completely.

My brows furrow at the thought, but I jump down from the ledge to land next to the secret entrance instead.

I can figure that stuff out later. For now, it would probably be best to find the rest of my team.

Assuming I can even get past this door.

I look around the door to see if there is some way to open it from the outside, but I can’t seem to find any. And dad never mentioned anything about a way to do that either when he shared the base’s blueprints with me, so it looks like I’ll have to find another way in.

Because even with my enhanced strength, there is no way I’d be able to rip it open. Not when two monsters have already tried and failed.

With that thought in mind, I turn around and begin making my way towards the base proper.

Let’s see if these monsters will attack me or not.

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“Shit, shit, shit,” I swear over and over again for a few seconds as I run away from one of those stupid wraith-like monsters that started chasing after me the moment it laid its eyes on me.

Looks like they still want to kill me!

The creature continues to chase me all the way back up to the secret entrance, where I finally give up on running and turn around.

Fuck it. If it wants a fight, I’ll give it one!

But the moment it gets close enough to me, a very intoxicating smell enters my nose. And I’m not sure how, but I just know that it’s coming from whatever is glowing in its chest where its heart should be.

Why do I want to eat its heart? That can’t be healthy. Assuming that even is a heart.

Wait… do I want to eat it? I can’t actually tell. It feels more like I want to… absorb it?

The creature doesn’t give me much time to think about it as it rushes towards me with its incredibly fast speed, making me raise my hands up while instinctively letting my claws out to catch the creature’s blade-like limbs before they can reach me and cut me apart. And surprisingly, the blades only pierce about a few centimeters into my hands while the creature’s limbs suddenly begin to frost over.

What the…

That’s when I remember something that had slipped my mind before.

The sight of the brute beginning to frost over slightly in the places where the wendigo touched it.

Does that mean I’m some sort of wendigo-monster and human hybrid?

Uncaring of my thoughts, the monster – one that I’m just going to start calling a wraith at this point – lets out a screech and begins pushing harder against my hands.

I grunt from the pain registering in them before kicking out at the wraith’s legs, taking them out from under it. The creature then makes an even louder screech as it falls to the ground with me falling after it, but I plant my knee on its chest to keep my face from falling onto the blades.

Damned monster, just give up already!

The monster obviously doesn’t do that and tries to get up, but it’s surprisingly weak, letting me keep it down with just my knee as I slowly push its blades back. And once I have its blades held against the snow on the ground, I step on them with my other boot, letting the blades sink a little into my boot as I move my right arm back before stabbing my claws straight into the creature’s eyes.

It lets out a terrifying shriek with a completely different tone than before, making me realize that this shriek is of pain instead of anger.

I grit my teeth and force my claws deeper into its eyes until I hit something that seems rather solid.

Why does it feel like I’m scraping against ice?

With a grunt, I force my fingers into the ice-like material, making the creature’s shriek raise in pitch again only to cut off entirely as the creature stops fighting.

Then – as if on instinct – I pull my claws out and splay my fingers out over the creatures chest, letting whatever blue light is in its chest slowly climb up to my hand and spread throughout my body, making me feel really good in the process.

Once the light runs out though, I return to my senses and fall back on the ground with a gasp of air, following which another notice appears from my terminal.

/ Notice \

Warning – unknown energy has entered the user’s body.
Attempting to analyze energy…
Analysis complete.
Energy is used as nutrition for user’s body and can empower the user.
Updating user’s statistics…

\End of Notice/

I sit on the snow-covered ground that still doesn’t feel cold at all for a few moments before the terminal updates again.

/ Current Analysis of user Alexander North \

Strength: 1.51
Speed: 1.54
Reflexes: 1.33
Constitution: 1.99
Immunity: ???
Senses: 1.67

Body Malfunctions: ???
Error: Cannot determine Immunity or Body Malfunctions of user’s current species.
The average of a human being without a symbiont is a 1 across all stats.

\End of Analysis/

After reading through my new statistics, I focus on the unmoving corpse of the wraith.

So, absorbing the energy stored in their chests can make me stronger?

I stare at it for a few minutes until I hear a roar echoing from a distance away from me, making me finally climb back up to my feet.

Whatever happened to me, it looks like I won’t ever be needing a symbiont. Like, ever. But if the other infected monsters can absorb this stuff as well, then won’t that mean that the monsters will just get stronger and stronger?

Because that would be bad. Like, apocalyptically bad.

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