Chapter 63: Dumb Fool (Patreon)

The air shook and Zed was shoved deeper into the ground as everything in front of him blew away in a massive explosion.

The force of the explosion pinned Zed down, casting its effect on the ground around him and he blacked out, slipping into momentary unconsciousness. It was a moment so short that it lasted the length of time it takes lightning to herald the madness of thunder. When he slipped back into consciousness, he was lying in a shallow crater.

Zed forced himself up, staggered to his feet. Pain seared through him. He fought through it with a vengeful will. If that last rune hadn’t killed him, then he refused to die here.

· You have defeated [Sentry blob].

· You have gained +68 Exp.

· You have defeated [Pincer blob].

· You have gained +72 Exp.

· You have gained new skill [Force] (Rune).

· You have gained new skill [Force shield] (Rune).

Zed stared past the notification, the words registering nowhere. He would’ve wondered why it had taken this long for both runes to register as skils. He would’ve wondered what difference it made now that they were skills. But he didn’t. He couldn’t. His mind had only two things on it: Pain and survival.

Zed ignored the notification as he stared at the monsters around him. They stood in place, unmoving. They seemed almost cautious, hesitant, and Zed almost laughed at the sight. Were they afraid of him now? Were the lengths he was willing to go to not to die at their hands worthy of fear?

A laugh slipped from his lips and it came out as an ominous cackle. It sent pain slithering through him and his knees buckled under him. Zed dropped back to the ground and the monsters took slow steps forward.

“Not enough fear, it seems,” he whispered through the haze of madness and pain. “You need more fear.”

His mind was waning, growing blank, and his body was growing fatigued. He had burned himself and the blood that had coated him, and the front of his clothes were a mess of singed fabrics. The little tatters that remained, remained only by the existence of a miracle he could not understand. The burns that riddled him were healing too slowly, and when a new notification came up, he saw it loud and clear.

· You have dealt yourself a fatal blow.

· You are critically wounded.

· Attribute [Regenerate] has activated.

· [Mana core] is critically low.

· You do not have sufficient [Mana] to activate [Regenerate].

· Attribute [Regenerate] does not take effect.

Zed felt his pain increase. He gasped for air and coughed up blood.

· You are critically wounded.

· You have been afflicted with effect [Burn].

· You have been afflicted with multiple instances of [Burn].

· Effect [Burn] stacks.

· You have been afflicted with [Burn (third degree)].

Zed stared at the notification, seeing it for what it was. It was only a matter of time before his body would seek out a way to replenish his mana core. And as much as he knew he needed it, regardless of the draw back it would have on his mana aptitude, he doubted now was the right time for his body to draw on his innate mana. If he went into a coma now, then he was more than certain he would not be allowed to wake up from it. The monsters in front of him would not let the chance pass them by.

· Attribute [Regenerate] has activated.

· Low [Mana] detected.

· You do not have sufficient [Mana] to activate attribute [Regenerate].

· Attribute [Regenerate] does not take effect.

· [Mana core] depleted.

· You are critically wounded.

· Seeking alternate mana source.

· [Blood mana] detected.

· Alternate mana source found.

· Would you like to absorb [Blood mana]?

· [Y/N]?

Zed stared in pain at the notification. He couldn’t remember a time when the notification had ever asked him what he wanted to do with actual choices except when he was absorbing his pocket memories. And he didn’t like the sound of the mana source detected. Something told him blood mana wasn’t exactly safe.

Fuel: [Blood mana] (common)

All things are made of mana and all things have mana. Mages possess an affinity for mana of different kinds and wield it in different ways for different purposes. Blood mana is mana found within the blood of all living creatures and is mostly used as fuel for its potent power.

· Effect: Fuel.

The rain fell heavily around Zed. Flashes of lightning illuminated the dark. It cast everything in an ominous glow. The subtle white flashed over wet woods. Thunder roared like an angry god. The monsters watched Zed stare at nothing and their once cautious approach became a slow stalk. The rhinoceros’ maw opened slightly. A sliver of smoke rose from it and a soft orange glow filled its mouth.

You will not die by their hands, Zed reminded himself, steeling his resolve through his pain as he gave the notifications his consent.

· Trait [Mana blessed] is in effect.

· Supplementing [Mana core] with [Blood mana].

· Rerouting [Blood mana] to [Mana core].

· Replenishing [Mana core].

Zed felt the same sensation he got when he used [Conqueror’s Touch]. His body heaved a deep sigh, expelling steam as if the rain dowsed a growing flame. The sensation filled his back completely while only a few patches of the skin on his front bore the same feeling. His body took in the mana from the blood coating him hungrily.

Zed felt the familiar sensation that came when his body healed as his pain grew numb. But where the sensation of the aftermath of [Conqueror’s touch] lasted only a moment, this one lasted a while. His body continued to breathe in whatever it could even as he healed and the monsters’ slow stalk grew slower.

A manic grin split Zed’s lips as power coursed through his veins. He felt alive, deeply and painfully so. Then he felt livid and bloody.

Still on his knees, Zed held both hands out on his sides. Each one cast a rune. His burnt grin never left his face as he concluded each rune.

· You have cast basic rune [Force].

· You have cast basic rune [Fire].

· You have dual cast successfully.

Zed held both runes with a sheer force of will as he slipped in something more. It came to him naturally, as though he’d been doing it his entire life.

· You have cast sigil [Link].

“You want me?!” Zed roared like the mad. “Then come make my day!”

He slammed both hands together in front of him, pointed at the monsters, and the rhinoceros let out a roar, blasting him in a bath of fire. Zed activated his rune and let madness reign as it sucked mana from his core.

· You have cast sigil [Link] on rune [Force] and [Fire].

· Sigil [Link] has applied effect [Combine] on [Force] and [Fire].

· You have cast compound rune [Fire Force].

· [Fire Force] has applied effect [Fire flood].

A wave of fire filled everything in front of Zed, blotting out his vision, and he watched the world burn before him. Everything was fire and he watched hell descend with a manic smile on his face as a new notification popped up.

· Excess [Blood mana] detected.

· [Blood mana] has applied effect [Bloodied].

· [Bloodied] has inflicted [Blood madness].

· You are afflicted with multiple instances of [Blood madness].

· You are [Blood maddened].

· Trait [Mana blessed] is in effect.

· [Blood madness] is now [Blood rage].

· [Blood maddened] is now [Enraged].

· You are [Enraged].

…………………………………………

The night air felt especially cold and Heimdall knew it had nothing to do with the weather. As a mage he had long since grown impervious to it. There was scarcely anything not influenced by magic that could affect him.

Beside Heimdall, sitting as he satisfied his addiction to alcohol with a bottle of something strong, was Ivan. The mage had just finished another cup of his liquor and was staring at Heimdall with hardened eyes.

“I still say that this is a bad idea,” Ivan said.

Heimdall was looking out the window covered in rain. He was staring at the town beyond it with a soft frown. He’d never really been a leader of anything significant before. He’d been a father once, and a loving husband. But while people always claimed it was the greatest responsibility anyone could ever have, Heimdall was objective enough to know it paled in comparison to this.

A wife and a child were the greatest gift a man could ever have and it led a man to unreasonable decisions often driven by emotion rather than logic. At least, the hard decisions often were. But those were two lives, weighed against the tens that occupied this town. Every decision had to be made with countless differences in mind.

Heimdall and Ivan had found the town not long after the second awakening and had saved the few people that had occupied a small portion of it from monsters that had dwindled their numbers. Fresh off the wave of the grief and anger that had fueled him from the loss of his family to the second awakening he had gone through the monsters, desiccating and dismembering like a greater monster than them. That alone had sufficed to instill the fear of him in the people left in the town.

But their fear was proof of his power, and when Ivan had suggested they stay in the town, none of the townspeople had dared to object.

As time went on, Heimdall and Ivan fought off more monsters, keeping the town alive until Festus had arrived. He had been elderly even then and had displayed no fear for Heimdall and Ivan or the carnage they were more than capable of wrecking.

When he’d asked to stay, Heimdall and Ivan had automatically been given the authority to make that decision. Somewhere along the line, the townspeople had looked to them as the figures of authority.

Heimdall could still remember the looks on their faces back then, the fear and admiration. Each one of them feared him yet wanted to be him. And while they relinquished the authority to him and Ivan, there was no one who didn’t know they feared him more. As for Festus, he found his interest in other things.

Time became the growing catalyst that let Heimdall know that while he had accepted Festus out of human sympathy for an old man with nowhere to go, the truth was glaringly different. Heimdall could still remember the day monsters had invaded the town and Festus had stepped up to disillusion them of his weakness.

Heimdall laughed at the thought.

“Do you remember when Festus joined us?” he asked Ivan, still staring out the wet window.

“How can I forget,” Ivan scoffed, clearly reluctant to change the conversation. “We thought he was some weak old man. Never knew he was crazier than you.”

“Yes,” Heimdall agreed with a small smile. “Remember the night he showed it?”

“Ha!” Ivan barked a short laugh. “Never seen a greater arsenal of runes in my life. Who would’ve known he was a force mage, too.”

“I did,” Heimdall said, absently.

“You did?”

“Yea. Saw him blast a tree monster clear into the sky. I don’t remember ever seeing it come back down.”

Ivan grunted in response. It could’ve meant anything but Heimdall couldn’t be bothered to figure it out. They lulled back into a loud silence and Ivan broke it quickly.

“You think he cried when he heard the news?” Ivan asked.

“Of the man-child’s death?” Heimdall asked.

“The man-child had a name, Heimdall,” Ivan scowled.

“And since when did you start caring?”

“Since he died,” Ivan said. “Do not speak ill of the dead. Do you think Festus cried?”

Heimdall shrugged. “Can’t be certain. I don’t think he was that attached to the kid.”

“Not the kid,” Ivan said. “What the kid represented. Zed was a part of what was his life’s work.”

“The perfect rune mage,” Heimdall said softly.

“The perfect rune mage,” Ivan repeated. “You know how Festus continued to believe the most powerful mage would come from those with attributes?”

“It was a pointless dream.”

“Yes, but there was some sense to it. Attribute mages have attributes that enhance certain aspects of their human nature. Some gain immense strength, some see in the dark, some are more feral and animalistic. Some garner better nutrients from whatever they absorb. You’ve read the files, Heimdall. Even seen some of them. It wouldn’t be far-fetched if there were some with attributes that enhanced their connection to mana.”

“Possibility is not always plausibility, Ivan. You know that.”

“I do. But I also know that Festus might’ve been onto something on that subject. I had enough conversations regarding Zed before he released the kid into my care. From what I got from it, the boy might’ve had an attribute that made him more attuned to runes than any mage Festus knows.”

“Festus had big dreams and they clouded his vision,” Heimdall said, not really caring for the conversation.

“Big dreams, yes. But none of it clouded his vision. I saw the boy cast a rune as if he’d been learning it for months after a few weeks with Festus, and Festus thinks the boy knows more than two already.”

Heimdall gave Ivan a sideways glance. “You are certain of this?”

“Very,” Ivan said and drank another glass of his liquor. “But that wasn’t the only thing that made me believe Festus might be right about his suspicions.”

“Then what did?”

“Remember the old man’s project?”

Heimdall frowned at that.

“The binding rune,” he said bitterly, his memory of seeing it surfacing in his mind and the emotion it had invoked in him.

It had felt like looking at something wrong. It had churned his mind and had been painful to look at.

“Yes,” Ivan grinned. “You remember it well. That’s the same feeling I get when I remember it. I don’t see the runes, just the way it had felt.”

“And what’s the point you’re trying to get at?”

“Well, if I’m to believe Festus, Zed was the first person he showed it to. And get this, the kid didn’t even bat an eye. In fact, he’d tried to comprehend it before Festus had stopped him.”

“So he didn’t think Zed could comprehend it, too.”

“No,” Ivan shook his head. “He had no doubt Zed could comprehend it, eventually. He just didn’t trust the boy’s self-control at the time. He was just worried the boy would blow his brains out attempting to do it.”

Heimdall rubbed a thoughtful hand across his jaw. “So he could try to comprehend something our minds refused to even allow us see. Maybe Festus did cry when he heard the news.”

“Yes,” Ivan said. “And I think he’ll cry when he learns of your decision as well.”

Heimdall waved Ivan’s disagreement aside.

“Festus cares nothing for the VHF. As long as they don’t interfere with his research, he’ll be fine.”

“He still won’t like the idea, though.”

“No, Ivan. You don’t like the idea,” Heimdall said. “But you have to understand that it is inevitable, not unless you’re willing to see these innocent people die at the hands of monsters.”

“We can take monsters, Heimdall,” Ivan scowled. “What we cannot take is a battalion of VHF soldiers armed in Olympian armor. You heard the kids’ report, too. They even came with a rune air-craft. They are not here for mere sightseeing.”

“Neither are they here for Zed,” Heimdall said as an afterthought.

“You’re not listening, Heimdall. If you try to negotiate with them, it’ll only be a matter of time before you’re negotiating the terms of a submission. They will pack in and never leave.”

“Doesn’t sound so bad. The townspeople already want it.” Heimdall gestured at the window to the world beyond it. “They want the electricity and the cold drinks and the sense of normalcy that comes with a touch of civilization. They won’t say it because they’re scared, but they want the VHF.”

“That’s because they don’t know any better.”

“And we do?”

“Yes!” Ivan snapped. “We’ve seen what they can do. We’ve lived the life, carried the experience. There’s a reason they left the decision making to us. They know that we know better.”

Heimdall turned a soft gaze to his old friend.

“Careful,” he said, solemn. “That’s how tyrants and dictators are born. We might know better but they are neither sheep nor children. They must be allowed to make the decisions they want badly enough.”

“Even if it ruins them?”

“The ruin is part of the reason we’re here, Ivan. To make sure it doesn’t ruin them.” Heimdall sighed and ran a gentle hand down his face. “Monster activities have been on a steady increase for a while now.”

“I already know that,” Ivan said. “It’s kind of easy to tell how long now since it started rising not long after Zed got here.”

Heimdall nodded.

“And what that means is that there is a mana surge crystal out there, or at least the remnants of one. We’ve done our best to find it and failed, now we’ll do our best to find it with the VHF, while protecting the town.”

“I still say we don’t need them.”

“We can’t take on the monsters that are coming, Ivan. Just last week Jason reported the presence of a Bishop rank monster at Abed’s little get together.”

“We can take a few bishop ranks.”

“And what if we get more than a few? What if all of them are category threes? What happens if we get a Knight?”

Heimdall’s statement was enough to bring a thin line to Ivan’s lips.

“Even if you don’t trust the people of this town,” Heimdall told Ivan. “How about trusting me. I haven’t led you to hell yet, have I?”

Ivan frowned.

“Not yet,” he said with a low grumble.

“Good,” Heimdall said, returning his attention to the rainy night. “Besides, it’s already too late to turn back. The decision has already been made; word has already been sent.”

“You dumb fool,” Ivan sighed.

“I know,” Heimdall chuckled softly. “The VHF platoon will be here by the day after tomorrow.”