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Energy Eater - Chapter 30 - Distance
🕑 Added 2024-08-27 18:41:00 +0000 UTC#### Author's Note####
Hey everyone. Sorry for the delay on this chapter. I mentioned I got sick last week and this was one of the chapters that were supposed to be posted way earlier for the gold card tier patrons and up. Because of the frenzy in getting this out I forgot to add the post for the explorer tier patrons too.
Also, I'll take a moment to give a head's up. Because of me getting a cold, a lot of things went out of order in the background. So I ask you all to bear with me while I get my ducks in a row.
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The hunt ended up being a rousing success. Not just because of our spoils, three hares and two dusky grouses. But also because I had a chance to test {Formless Nodus Swipe}. That skill was amazing, there was so much power behind the spinning attack that I was able to leave a mark on a tree without even touching it. I had to be close enough to almost graze the trunk, but still, the sheer force of the wind was able to rip out some bark.
Pops also used the one new skill he had to catch the birds. It was something called ‘Steady Hand’ that allowed him to focus and make sure his hand would follow the path he wished. When using a sling, that made sure that his attack would fly where he was aiming. That wasn’t all because of the skill, of course. Pops was extremely proficient with the weapon, as he had years of practice with that kind of thing. The Steady Hand skill only helped make sure his body would follow the right motion.
Once we were back in Madison, Cindy was very thankful for the meal. I also convinced Pops to leave one of the birds he got to the guard, as a thanks for all the help and for believing in me. It was never a bad idea to be in the good graces of the people who controlled a village.
Michael and Vanessa were doing well, in fact, they were better than before. My presence here reignited the hope that their parents could have survived. According to them, since I was still alive, their parents might also be. Honestly, that was within the realm of possibility. I don’t remember seeing Katalena being killed, or any of the others. What was that thing Pops used to say about stories? Never believe in a death that happened off screen.
Thinking about things like that could help, and one way or another, brought some spark to the kids’ eyes. Was it good in the long run? I had no idea. In fact, who was I to argue against that hope? Their parents might have escaped. I didn’t see them dying. Even without the System, as long as they were a bit lucky, there was a good chance they survived.
Actually, that brings me to something else. How did I survive? Yeah, yeah, I was impaled, and the System saved me. I’m not talking about that. Once the Eater died, why the other ones didn’t come after it? Eaters were supposed to chase after energy. Elasticity, fire, things like that. Why didn’t they come after the blood of one of their own?
‘Sys, do you have any ideas why the Eaters didn’t come after me when one of them died?’
[System is unable to give a reason for why the Eaters did not find user Cassandra once user killed an Eater. The only thing System can say is that the SP of beings know as Eater let out a specific frequency that repels animals once the Eater is dead.]"
‘Do you have any ideas then? Like, why did none of them came close?’
[System does not have enough information to give a proper answer.]
‘That’s fine. It was worth a shot.’
For the next few of days, I did basically the same thing. Helped a little here and there in the village, and went out hunting. Pops came along a couple of times, which helped him get 2 more levels. One should be just because he was eating, and the food became Energy, which in turn turned into SP. But the other happened during the hunt. One of the rabbits we found was larger, and its fur was starting to turn green. According to the System, it was a mutated monster, and when it died, Pops and I, leveled up.
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Cassandra Ydorf - Level 3
Titles: Enduring Heart
Tier 1 - Formless Monk
Mind 3 - Body - 9
Memory - 6 Energy - 1/8 (2 Reserved)
Skills - 6/6
Energy Storage - Passive - 1 Energy
Memory Bank - Passive - 1 Energy
Body Regeneration - Active - 1 Energy/ 10 minutes
Compression - Active - 1 Energy/ 5 uses
Formless Series - Passive
Formless Nodus Swipe - Active - 1 Energy/ 1 use
Mind of Possibility - Unavailable
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My Energy went up by one again, and the bonus point went straight to Body, I wanted it to get to 10 soon. Just to see if something was going to happen, maybe there was a skill or something behind it. Maybe some skills required a specific amount of Body or Mind, and I had to reach those points before they became available. I did ask the System about that, but the answer I got was pretty useless.
[System is unaware of any skill that has an attribute requirement. However, if skills with those kinds of requirements exist, System will only be aware of their existence, once said skills were acquired either by leveling up or by consuming something that has said skill.]
Which translated to ‘I don’t know, and will only know if you find one.’ Being the first user sucked some times. But maybe I could find others that had the System. It said that human were the 7th species to get access to the System. Maybe one of the other species was able to talk and communicate. Then I could learn from someone who had more experience. If they were friendly, that is. What other specie could’ve gotten the System first? Monkeys? Maybe some sort of bug. If people did figure out the SP existed somehow, maybe there were experiments, so guinea pigs? Actually, did I ever confirm if the species were all here? What if we were talking about alien?
It was late at night and I was watching the sky by the lake when I felt like I was ready for those kinds of answers.
‘Hey… Sys… When you say humans are the 7th species to get access to the System. Do you have a range? Like, on the continent, or the planet?’
[System received information from the SP that there were other 6 species that already had access to System. System is unable to pinpoint the range for the availability of said information. However, System is able to confirm that information is correct.]
‘How?’
[The System particles form a network that can transmit certain information instantly all across the entire network.]
‘And there is no limit? Like, one of those particles can be on the other side of the world, or in a different planet, and you will still get that information? Even if there is nothing connecting the two particles.’
[Correct. Distance is not a metric that has any effect on the most basic communication between system particles.]
‘How does that work?’
[System particles send basic information to one another. However, user must remember that this only applies to fundamental information or changes that were made to the system as a whole. More detailed information, such as skills, requires relevant particles to be in close proximity.]
‘Yeah, but like, how? If one particle is here and another in the moon, how do communicate with it?
[System is unable to answer that.]
‘Is it some sort of restriction or you just don’t know?’
[System is unable to give a proper answer to said question. Could user tell System how user knows she to breathe?]
‘What do you mean? It’s when I feel like I need air. It’s a natural response.’
[For System, that is the same situation. Communicating with distant particles is a natural response. Something that System is unable to explain.]
‘I see… ok then. Can you at least tell how far away some the SP are? Like can you tell where the farthest particle is located?’
[System asks user to look to the left of the moon. Move slowly.]
I nodded and did as the System asked. First, my eyes landed on the beautiful full moon, its pale white reflection shining down. From both sides I could see the edges of large circular black shapes that trickled down to the center, forming almost a horizontal hourglass. The only reason to really call it that was because of the small dots that always seemed to be moving from one side to the other. Yet, they all passed by the center of the moon instead of going on a straight line to the other side for some reason.
According to Pops, the moon didn’t have those dark marks before the Eaters arrived. He thought there was some sort of moon base where some humans were able to go to before everything went to shit. The thing was, with everything I knew about the old world, that wouldn’t be possible. Not on that scale, at least. Even if people were able to go to the moon, they should only have small bases here and there. By the size, those structures would be massive, bigger than most old world cities. Then again, that was the only explanation he had. Unless one of the species that got the System was up there. But if that was the case, how did they got there? And more importantly, how did the System got there?
Focusing back on what the System was asking me to do, I slowly moved my eyes to the left of the moon, seeing the countless stars in the sky. After the Aries constellation, and even after the Triangulum, but before Andromeda, the System finally spoke up.
[Stop. There, between the blue and orange stars. The farthest system particle is some number of light years away in that direction.]
My eyes went wide, ‘Light years? Are you sure?’
[System sure this information is accurate. However, how many light years is not something System is able to confirm.]
‘How… how is that possible? Instant communication through something that is light years away shouldn’t be possible. Not according to Pops, at least.’ That sounded right, but in all honesty, I wasn’t sure. The idea of taking a long time to communicate wasn’t something that I ever truly understood. Like, yeah, it was one thing to copy a large file, Pops showed me how in one of the old consoles. But sending a message? How would it take time? Wasn’t the whole point of the internet to have instant communication?
[System is unable to answer that question. It simply is.]
‘Kind of like how you are just a few days old but also have an infinite age?’
[Correct.]
‘So one of the other species can be an alien?’
[That is a possibility. System is unable to confirm that information.]
I let out a long sigh, ‘Ok, ok,’ I grumbled before heading back home.
After dinner I told Pops about the whole communication through light years of distance thing, hoping for an explanation. Instead, all I go was him staring into the distance and grumbling every now and then as he tried to figure out how that worked with his own System.
I went to bed after convincing Pops for us to head out to the hidden horn village in the morning. It could be good not just for us to see if there was anything that could be salvaged, but also to see if there were signs of other survivors. Not to mention that hunting monsters could help him level up.
Or at least, that was the plan. In the morning, we had to help the village as the hunters arrived with a decent amount of meat and they ended up making a lot of food to avoid spoiling. The next day, Vanessa had a nightmare about my death and refused to leave my side. After that, Pops got his hand on some of the tools he needed to continue his research and asked us to stay for another day. Then another. And another. And another.
And another.
Only after a week, when I put my foot down that I was going with or without him, that Pops agreed to go. We gathered some supplies, I made sure to get an extra waterskin. An empty one just in case we came across an Eater. Their blood could be a really good way to fill up my Energy in a pinch. And it was finally time to get back to the ruins of the Hidden Horn Village.
