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Energy Eater - Chapter 98 - Leaving Polson Bay
🕑 Added 2025-03-30 18:25:38 +0000 UTCWe were able to get some of the crab meat before leaving, but it wasn't even midday when the four of us said goodbye to this village. For Astrid and I, that was not something that really mattered. After all, we barely stayed here for a couple of days. However, Michael and Pamela were different. The Hawaiian had stayed here for a few weeks, while Pamela had spent an entire year living with those people. At the same time, there was a clear reason why they were leaving, which probably helped lessen the blow of not seeing those people anymore. After all, it was very hard to trust someone who tried to kill you.
As the news of our decision to leave spread across the village, a number of people came to say goodbye. It was strange to be this well known when we had been here for just a couple of days. Some of those who came to talk to us just thanked us for uncovering the Matriarch's secret. But a few others also came bearing gifts. Supplies that would help us on the road. While neither Astrid nor I were particularly in need of the supplies, Michael and Pamela were a different story. They didn't have any proper traveling gear, much less things like soap or rations.
And while Michael, despite saying he was going to bring everything, only had a medium-sized backpack with all of his belongings, Pamela brought one of those gigantic camping bags that covered a person's entire back along with two other bags that were being carried in her hands. She very much looked like someone who was about to go on a car trip in one of those movies from the old world. The only thing missing was the bucket hat and the white mark of sunscreen over her nose.
"I think you're taking too much stuff," Michael turned to Pamela.
"No, I'm not. Those are all essentials," she huffed.
I rolled my eyes. "How is all of this essential? What are you actually bringing?"
"I have a tent, a couple changes of clothes, a sleeping bag, blankets, a bit of food, towels, and a couple different pairs of shoes. Just in case one of them breaks or something."
I shook my head. "Okay, first of all, how the fuck do you have so much stuff? Weren't you here for just a year? Second, a lot of that's going to stay behind. We can't have you dragging five bags' worth of bullshit everywhere."
"This is not bullshit," Pamela protested. "Those are things I need."
"You don't need more than a pair of shoes, you don't need the tent, you don't need multiple blankets or a towel. What you need is one big cloak that can be used as a blanket, maybe one or two changes of clothes and that's it. The rest should be only for food, medicine, some soap if you are lucky. All the rest is staying. I could ignore some of that if it was to carry a weapon, but you're not even bringing that, are you?"
"I don't have a weapon," Pamela admitted.
"You're going to need one. I don't care if we are going to be looking out for you, you never know what might happen."
"But I never fought before," Pamela protested again.
"Doesn't matter. When a monster is trying to eat you, they won't care if you have fought or not." That line seemed to have finally made her realize what was going to happen. She looked around, almost like a lost kid trying to find an answer somewhere, before turning back to me.
"Do you know what weapon I can get, then? I never fought."
I let out a long sigh. "See if you can find a large stick. It's probably the best weapon you can use right now."
"A stick?" Pamela protested. "Why? Wouldn't it be better to have an axe or a big knife?"
"If you knew what you're doing, maybe. But if you're not, I'd rather not have to worry about you killing yourself with your own weapon," I replied.
"So that's why you're telling me to get a kid's weapon?"
I just grabbed my staff and slammed it on the ground. "I'm telling you to get the same weapon I use. Do you have a problem with that?"
She stared at the staff and then at me and moved to the side, asking the villagers for something. It took a bit of time, but eventually she came back with a sturdy-looking staff. It was a bit too big for her, but it should get the job done.
After a bit more of discussion, and by that I mean Pamela trying to convince me that bringing more than just one backpack wasn't a bad thing and failing to do so, we were finally able to start moving. One of the villagers had been kind enough to bring a map of the area and showed us a few places that we might be able to get to. According to them, there was a city nearby called Spokane where some merchants used to come from. In reality, they didn't come from the actual city but a nearby area that had been converted into a safe village. And due to the proximity to a ruined city, they had access to a lot of resources that were harder to come by elsewhere.
But the easiest way to get there would involve us heading south, first towards the same road that took us to this village and then heading west. Even then, it would probably take us a few days to get to that settlement and the city. If I was being honest, there were other options, other places that we could go to that might even be safer. After all, getting close to a ruined city always came with the threat of finding an Eater. But there was one thing that the man who showed us the map said that really made me want to go there.
Apparently, there were tall buildings in Spokane. Actual buildings and not just one-story houses. But things that could go to 5, 10, maybe even 20 stories tall. I had never seen one of them before in real life and even if they were in ruins, toppled by the war against the Eaters, that was something I really wanted to see. Astrid seemed to be down with whatever we were going, and Michael joined my curiosity. The Hawaiian also never had seen buildings like that before.
But Pamela, on the other hand didn't care much about that. She had seen them in the distance and really didn't understand why that was so exciting. It was just a large house. That was just yet another comment coming from the woman that made me regret offering her to come with us. Our travels were not supposed to be due to necessity but as a way for us to explore and see the sights. After all, technically I had a home to come back to, and I had all intentions of doing so in the future.
We continued walking down that road and I expected to take about half a day to reach the end of it. We were making such a bad time because we also had to care for Michael and Pamela. Michael did have the System, but he had just gotten it. Which meant that his attributes wouldn't be enough to allow him to keep up with our pace. Not wanting to say this out loud, I grabbed Astrid's hand in order to send a message to the System while our two new companions were in front of us.
Cassandra: I think I'm going to give Michael {Quick Tier 1 Evolution}. What do you think?
Astrid: I like the idea. He's nice. And he uses a bow. Good help.
Cassandra: My thoughts exactly. I'm going to do it then. Just have to do it in a way that Pamela won't notice.
Astrid: We're not giving her the System?
Cassandra: I really don't want to. You heard her before we left the village. She kept complaining about everything. I understand that she might want to keep her things. But we are already doing her a favor. The least she could do is to be nice about it.
I let go of Astrid's hand, who had just nodded after my statement, but quickly reached out to her again.
Cassandra: Say, do you mind distracting her a little bit? Walk ahead and stay by her side just while I talk to Michael.
Astrid gave me a blank stare with an annoyed expression, but she still did what I asked. Stepping forward, she got between Pamela and Michael as I gestured for the man to pull back so we could talk.
"Hey, what's up," he asked out loud, but I just grabbed his hand and sent a message to the System.
Cassandra: Let me teach you something new. If you are touching another person who has the System, you can communicate like this. Since you don't know how to read, I don't know exactly what's happening, but I assume you can understand what I'm saying?
Michael was about to open his mouth when he realized he shouldn't and his reply came through the System.
Michael: I'm hearing what you're saying. I mean, the System is telling me what you're saying. What's the matter? Why are we talking like this?
Cassandra: I don't intend to give Pamela the System. I don't think she's a good fit for it. And I needed to explain to you another thing. Have you learned about skills yet?
Michael: I did. Even got a few.
Cassandra: I would love to know what they are later. But you can share skills with others. I have two skills that I wanted to give to you and don't worry, I'm not going to be without them. Well, technically, I am going to be without one of them. But that's just because I don't need it anymore. Anyway, here's the deal.
I proceeded to explain to Michael about {Quick Tier 1 Evolution} and {Body Regeneration} including their effects and how I could share those skills with him. I made it clear that it was his choice although even if he didn't want {Quick Tier 1 Evolution} he really should get {Body Regeneration} since it was the one thing that saved my life countless times already and the man quickly accepted both of them.
He also shared with me the skills he got. And a little bit of extra information about what happened when he used the bow with the System. The skills he got were {True Shot}, an attack skill of all things that allowed his arrow to hit more than just a direction or an area, but pinpoint the exact location he wanted to hit. When doing so, the skill would more or less confirm if he was aiming at the right place or not. It wasn't an all powerful skill, so there was no effect that could tell him where he was supposed to be placing his fingers or positioning his bow. But just having a yes or no answer was already extremely helpful.
The second skill he got from the System was called {Thick Shell}. And it was a skill he could cast on pretty much anything to make their skin or outer layer temporarily sturdier. Apparently, when he did that with an arrow, the projectile became several times stronger. This was something he gained from eating all that crab meat. It seemed like he had gotten the scrapes of the shell along with the soft insides, and that allowed him to get the skill.
And what I was not expecting was how the System would treat kills that were done by an arrow. The farther away he was from the target he killed, the fewer particles he would gain. Apparently that was due the decay that would happen with the particles as they traveled from the arrow destination to its origin. Which meant that if he wanted to get the most amount of particles, he would need to either be close to the target or, alternatively, he could be part of a group who was sharing their particles. In that case, if he killed a monster, and there was a member of his group nearby, his particles would instead go to his companion. And they would be basically hitching a ride on this third party until they were close enough to Michael to jump into him.
I was not expecting the System to have that kind of function, but it was nice knowing that people wouldn't be completely hindered if they were using long-range weapons. The man also said he had a couple ideas on how to solve that problem but he wasn't really sure if it was possible and didn't want to spoil the surprise in case he managed to make that work. Even if it would likely take some time. Then again, now that he was going to get the {Quick Tier 1 Evolution} skill, maybe it wouldn't take as long as his system told him.
That conversation lasted a long time, and I noticed how Pamela kept sneaking glances at us, likely due to the fact that both of us were walking hand in hand. It wouldn't surprise me if she believed that we were an actual couple or something, especially considering the rumors that were spreading in the village. I assumed I would have to clear things up with her later, but before I had a chance to do so, we saw something coming from one of the lakes that forced us to stop whatever we were doing.
From a pond on our left was a line of crabs, all getting up and walking away from the village. Each one of them very similar to Emperor Flathead. Too similar. Almost as if they were its clones or its children. But after the line moved south for a few meters, the crabs would split. A few would go west, some would go east, others continue heading south and a handful turned around and headed north towards the village again.
I wasn't entirely sure what that all meant, but one thing I knew. Leaving those crabs alive would only cause trouble in the future. And since Michael was here, and those creatures were about the size of dogs instead of the size of giant trees, it would be a good way for him to start gathering some particles and leveling up.
