Lenny did not hear anything after the Weave announced his kill, he only saw something else happen to the Hive creatures. He had sacrificed his defense position, and was worried the creatures were going to attack them, but the opposite happened instead. The creatures were still and motionless for a few seconds, and then cumbled one by one.
Some swayed and staggered for a bit, before falling to the ground. Their flesh turned to obsidian stone that crumbled once the creatures hit the ground. Lenny and the young woman stumbled as well. It was then when he realized they were awfully close, holding each other in an awkward position. Lenny could feel her breath on his neck, as well as her heart beating wildly in her chest.
He let her go, and slowly composed himself. The girl did so as well. They both looked around the room with somber expressions. The room was crimson red with blood, and so were they. Lenny looked at the stone remains of the Hide creatures in contempt. He was still extremely hungry and had hoping to feast on some Ontological meat.
Even the creatures they had already killed before were turned to stone, and crumbled into the pools of blood flowing on the floor. He turned to the young woman, to check if she was alright. She was relatively fine, really. There were no serious wounds on her body, only shallow scratches that were going to heal in a matter of minutes.
He could not say the same about himself though.
He was not in best shape, to say the least. He was beaten and battered, pain washing over his entire body. Blood was seeping out from countless shallow wounds that littered his whole body. His left cheek was swollen, blood gushing out of a nasty wound. He was bleeding from somewhere in his head as well. His right leg was also broken from an encounter he could not remember.
But at least they had emerged victorious. Not only that, but the system finally weaved him a weapon. A weapon rewarded from slaying an Ontological Glitch was bound to be powerful, probably too powerful for a Commonality like him. But that was okay, because he was not a normal Commonality either. He felt something else wrong about him, he was feeling unnaturally exhausted.
'My essence...'
At that moment, before he could finish that thought, the girl turned to him with smile. His heard skipped a few beats, he was momentarily distracted from the agony his body was feeling.
"I am so–"
When she saw the state Lenny was in, the words died on her throat. He opened her mouth and closed it again, unsure of what to say. She did not know whether to thank him, or apologize fir causing so much trouble. Hell, she did not even know what to do. She just entered full panic mode.
"It is fine. I have been through worse. Come on, help me sit down."
Lenny did not want to see her panicking, he wanted to reassure her, and tell her that everything was fine. So he lied. Everything was not fine, not at all. He was in so much pain that every thought felt foggy and unreal. Lifting a finger required so much effort that he had to burn through his remained essence so that he would continue functioning.
Nothing was fine, in fact it was the opposite.
He lied and told her he had been through so much worse. In truth, an Ontological Glitch was every Commonality's nightmare. There was nothing as dreadful as coming across a creature as powerful as that. Even though Lenny had some experience being a Commonality, he had never battled an Ontological Glitch before. Hell, he had never even met one.
So he understood why the girl was running for her life. He even wondered why did not do the same. It was probably the fault of that cursed [Child of War] attribute of his. The girl helped him sit down, and looked at him with a sad smile.
"I am so sorry man. I did not know you were here, if I did–"
Lenny cut her off before she could continue.
"I said it was fine okay? You do not have to worry about it. I mean it is also my fault for not running away."
He winced due the pain, and then figured it would be best to remain quiet.
"Well at least let me treat your wounds. They are pretty bad, so it would take some time before your body completely heals."
He looked for a moment, then nodded slowly. Of course, he did not really need his body to completely heal, he needed it to heal just enough for him to be able to swing his blade. He raised his hand held up his t-shirt, silently instructing her to use it as a bandage. She nodded and started tearing the top from the bottom, revealing Lenny's detailed packs.
She swallowed.
#
After scaling the mountains for quite some time, Adrian finally found a large entrance that lead into a huge cave filled with impenetrable darkness. A large rock, twice as tall as he was, stood on the side of the entrance, as if placed there on purpose. His heart was beating so loudly, he could could almost hear the echoes inside the giant cave.
He did not like the sound of that at all. He knew that if a large boulder weighing more than a thousand pounds had been deliberately placed on the entrance, it could only mean one thing. The cave was a nest of an incredibly powerful creature. But he had very little choice. The sun was setting, and dozens of creatures were already gathering on the bottom of the tall mountains.
He had to find shelter, or die. And he honestly did not mind sharing a room – well a cave in this case – with an Ontological Glitch or two, as long as boundaries were placed. 'Argh who am I kidding.' There were no trees left in existence, so he had to use something else to make fire, and luckily, he knew just what to use.
He extended his reach of the Weave, looking for his new Ability. If he was correct, the Ability was supposed to allow him to transform into an Azure Beast whenever he wished, and vise versa. He still had no idea what the limitations were, but that was for another day to explore. He was also glad to the Academy for teaching them the most important thing about Azure Beasts.
Their highly flammable blood.
He pulled on a certain rune and controlled it according to what he desired. It was not really hard, not anymore at least. Not after training for two months to master Selection. He then grew a third arm, and once it fully manifested, cut his wrist and drenched his whole bottom left hand in purple blood.
He let out a stifled curse and proceeded with his usual madness.
He picked up two modest sized stone and used them to start a fire the original way. He smashed the two stones together, sending sparks flying all over. He continued persistently, until his third hand was fully enveloped in blue fames. Pain washed over him, his azure skin turning black and burnt in a second.
And so he healed it. Again and again, and again.
Until he reached the equilibrium he desire.
And headed into the dark cave.
***
'What is wrong here? What am I missing?'
Luke's thoughts were in disarray. His mind was in chaos and so was the would around him. Time progressed in a way that did not make sense, and he constantly felt like he was missing something. Like there was something constantly shaving his memories.
Well for starters, he remembered his mother baking him his favorite banana bread like a month ago, but could not remember most of the things before that. It was as if he does not remember his life after becoming a Commonality – or vice versa. He had trouble even remembering everything that happened in between. All those banana breads he had no recollection of.
He knew that his mother baked him his favorite bread every Saturday morning, but all those three Saturdays passed like a blur, leaving not even a single trace of memory in his mind. He was probably tired from being a Commonality, and all the work that comes with it. Speaking of work, what does he do as a Commonality? Study at the Academy?
Study what?
He had no recollection of a single thing he had supposedly learned in the Academy. He was beginning to feel very worried. And there was his brother as well. Jake would sometimes feel too lucid for the reality he was used to, saying stuff like 'what are doing here? you do not belong here. Are you dead?'
Not only was he acting weird, but Luke felt something shift inside him everytime his brother was acting up.