Kabanata 21
Keenan tapped the transmitter, it was still working, fortunately. He took a breath as a relief that he found a working one. He was seriously tapping the transmitter and begging someone would pick up. He was in a desolate place and he wasn't sure if the reception was good. But he didn't have time to hesitate. He had to do it or else he won't escape this godforsaken place. This was better than doing nothing at all, he hoped that God would help him this time.
"Please, someone answer me."
His sweat was overflowing since he killed monsters, traveled in the mobileship, and destroyed the compartment just to get the transmitter. All of them were tiring especially killing multiple Nightmares, they were not easy to eliminate. Still, as a man who experienced a lot of murdering jobs, he did the chore right.
"Come on..."
His eyes were directly watching the transmitter, he was waiting if someone would get his signal. Netherworld was much bigger than Thera so communication was hard here. Despite knowing the coordinates of the nearest Metropolis(based on his memories), no one was still answering his call. Almost half an hour already passed and the battery would deplete yet none answered his call.
"It seems like I don't have any choice but to send a distress signal. That's the cheapest way so that the battery won't be depleted."
He kicked his tongue and turned the transmitter off. At least now, he had a way to leave this place so it wasn't bad. There is still hope and Keenan was trying to grasp that. He slightly clenched the transmitter, not enough to break it, but his action showed determination.
He looked at the ground close to the mobileship, where the grave of his friends resides. Keenan dug the ground using his Hands and thereafter he made a peaceful place for them to rest. It was actually tiring but he decided to do so.
The grave was deep so that nightmares won't excavate them and eat their remains. Even the rotting smell completely disappeared. He knew that perhaps this was futile but Keenan still decided to do it. Monster may still found the dead bodies but Keenan hoped that it won't.
As for the dead monsters that he slaughtered, as always he took the N-cores out of their chests and buried them too. It would be dangerous to let their scent linger.
Keenan sighed because of his current situation.
"Despite having two kilograms of N-cores, I don't feel any happiness at all. I can sell these at a high price but even that is impossible if I don't leave this place."
N-core is a vital part of being a Nightbreaker. Eating it would stimulate your power to increase. Because of this, N-cores were always on-sell. It was obvious that many people would buy them because of their essential capability. The more you have, the faster you get stronger. Even F-class N-core would be sold without even an hour. That's how this stuff disappeared, hundreds of millions of N-cores were consumed every day. Since eating them was the fastest way to grow, they were in high demand.
Keenan smelled the place, the scent of death was all around yet he couldn't do a thing about it.
" All I have to do is to believe that nothing bad will happen, or to be precise, no high class will appear."
Keenan, a Class-B Arma and Class-D Bestia. Even though he had two powers, it was hard to fight strong monsters, particularly Class-S and higher. Those creatures were at the pinnacle of the food chain and the only people who could face them toe to toe were Nightbreakers who had the same class as them. In short, Keenan had to be Class-S to face a Class-S, so on and so forth. Nonetheless, his chances of winning were still fifty-fifty and perhaps lower.
Nightmares were divided into different species and each of the species had a unique specialty. Just like the Veloce that could move fast or Uccelli that had wings to fly.
A melee fighter will lose a battle against a Uccelli, and a long-range fighter will lose against a Veloce. One of the ways to explain it would be Nightmares were not similar and even Class-S Nightbreakers would have a hard time fighting them.
Keenan is an Arma and a Bestia. He had two unique sets of Skills but these were not enough to survive in this place.
Although the bag of N-cores was the proof of his strength. And he was confident that he could kill monsters from Class-A, that was the maximum he could do. He gauged his strength and believe that he has a chance with Class-A... He didn't know that he was going to face much higher than that.
"I hope they will get my signal."
He put the transmitter in his pouch, together with the N-cores. The sun was setting down and the bluish orange sky was dimming. The darkness was going to approach him and another scene of battle would knock on his door.
"Before that, I have to make sure that I have energy."
He grabbed a handful of N-cores and stuffed them in his mouth. This amount would actually cause an overdose but not for him, he became accustomed to eating them every hour. Why? Because he wanted to become stronger and this was the fastest way. The other reason why he didn't overdose was because of his two powers. They consumed the N-cores enough for his body to adjust. Still, he was in constant danger if he doesn't eat real food.
The Crystals crack as he crunched them. He gulped when he acknowledged that they were in small pieces. Hot sensation attacked him but Keenan acknowledged that this thing was normal now.
In fact, instead of feeling hurt, he felt ticklish. He inhaled for a few minutes to regulate the energy. Just like that, his power gained another level. He knew that his bones had become tough and his bodies were optimized to the limit using the crystals.
Taking these crystals would take a toll on his body if he continued eating them but Keenan was not thinking about it at the current moment.
"After I escape this place, I will eat a ton of food. Ah, I want pork tonkatsu..."
His mouth watered recalling the taste of pork covered with breedings and deep-fried. He wanted to eat it again and he promised that he would.