This time, when I grabbed the crushed door, my fingers sunk into the gaps and began to tear it open with ease.
Steel and glass ground against each other, screaming in protests as the door was being ripped open.
Slowly, the door was bent back, creating a small opening that smoke and fumes gushed out of. Through the opening, I could hear muffled gasps and sobs.
Spurred on by worry, I reached into the opening and wrenched at the mangled door with all I was worth.
With the screech of bending steel, the door was ripped from its hinges and flew back. Without a moment's pause, I dived into the front seat.
The sight that greeted me inside the front of the car was hard to look at. But I couldn't turn away, not if I wanted Kashyap to live.
Kashyap was wedged back into his seat, the steering wheel of the car had been jammed into his chest from the impact of the crash. He was covered in gashes and bits of glass. Blood streamed down his crushed chest, staining his clothes red and coagulating in a small pool on the seat he was imprisoned in.
I wasn't sure how long I had before the car might explode, so I had to work fast. However, if I was careless I would end up causing more harm than good. This dilemma left me drenched with sweat.
Freeing Kashyap from the car was a painstakingly dangerous process that reminded me of open-heart surgery. I had to wrench out the steering wheel that pinned him into his seat without jolting his body too much. If not for my temporarily doubled strength, it would have been impossible.
After a few tense moments, I managed to pull the steering wheel back just enough for Kashyap to slide out of the chair and fall limply onto the ground beside the car. He landed in a heap and didn't get up.
My first reaction was to sling him over my shoulder and get out of here, but if I picked him up like that, I might cause even more damage to his already broken body.
So, although it was kind of embarrassing, I gingerly hoisted him up into a princess carry, careful not to grab him too tightly.
With Kashyap in my arms. Now, I just had to get out of the minefield before it was too late. For this, I actually did have a plan.
With my strength and speed doubled thanks to the effects of (After Burner) I sprinted a few meters and then leapt high into the air. My jump was far enough to make an Olympian cry, it was twice as far as the previous world record, but it wasn't enough to get me off the highway.
As I reached the apex of my jump, I could see where I was going to land and there was mine right in my path. The most dangerous thing about landmines is that you don't have to step directly on them. If you disturbed the ground near them, let's say by landing a huge jump from 20 metres away, for example, they would blow up, taking you with them.
The wind rushed through my red hair, sending it flowing out behind me like flames and the ground rushed up to meet me along with the landmine.
Just as I was about to hit the asphalt and explode into thousands of pieces, my body grew lighter. So light that I could almost float. I hung almost motionlessly in the air for a moment before sailing over the area with the mine and landing gracefully.
Then I jumped again, this time far higher than I had managed before. My body was almost weightless and soared through the air, clearing the highway and landing a good 10 metres into the field August and I had come from.
Before I checked the system, I already knew what had happened. At the moment before I hit the ground when life and death hung in the balance, I had managed to activate my second skill.
(Light as a Feather)
Mana trickled out of my body at a much slower rate than when I had activated (After Burner). My feet felt nimble and quick. While my body felt weightless as if I had stepped onto a planet with less gravity than earth.
I landed gently in the tall grass, careful not to jolt Kashyap in case he punctured a lung with one of his broken ribs. I laid him down with more care than I might a newborn baby, gathering up the tall grass into a soft bed for him.
August ran up behind me, still carrying Kyle, who had fallen unconscious over his shoulder. Kyle looked a little worse for wear and was covered in burns and scratches, thankfully there was nothing fatal.
The same could not be said for Kashyap. His body was a wreck. Now that I looked at him properly in the fading light of the evening sun, I could see just how much damage had been done.
His chest had been caved in by the steering wheel, leaving his breathing hollow and ragged. Each lungful of oxygen was a battle that he couldn't afford to lose.
Charred burn marks covered his skin and there was a few mangled pieces of metal that had broken off inside his legs. The seatbelt had left a long burn mark that stretched from his right ear to his left hip where it had melted onto him.
And, worst of all, a piece of glass from the windshield had found its way into his left eye. The eye was closed, blood slowly leaking from it... it would never open again.
I turned to August and instructed him to find our backpacks that should have been thrown clear of the pickup truck by the explosion since they were in the back of the truck as well.
While I waited for him to find our supplies, I busied myself with picking out the smaller fragments of glass and metal that had wormed their way into Kashyap's flesh. It was a long arduous process, but it had to be done.
August returned after a few minutes, his face was flushed and breathless, clutching two bags against his chest.
Without a word, I yanked mine from his grip and started to rummage about in it. Finally, I found the first aid kit I had brought with me. Ever since I was young, I brought a first aid kit with me everywhere I went... you never know when your crazy father might impose a 'test' on you.
I'll spare you the gory details of the impromptu surgery, but needless to say, the worst part was taking the piece of glass from his ruined eye.
Finally, I had sewn up the larger wounds and wrapped the smaller ones in bandages after sterilizing them with some vodka I had found in Kyle's bag. By now, the sun had dipped below the horizon and the stars had started to appear in the night sky.
After spending the better part of 2 hours bandaging and cleaning wounds, I was drained of every last drop of energy.
When I was sure that Kashyap wasn't about to die on me and that his breathing was under control. I fell back into the long grass and lay there on my back.
Above me, the soft light from stars wove a beautiful tapestry in the night sky. At the centre of the tapestry, a giant blue moon hung above me, sending down an eery glow that died the night a bluish tint.
In the fields nearby, the soft sounds of large feet and paws treading across the tall grass drifted into my ears through the still wind. The predators of the night were out in full force.
August lay motionless on the grass beside me, the raspy sound of his breathing was the only giveaway that he was alive. Kyle had remained unconscious throughout the whole ordeal, still in shock from his own wounds.
It had been a long day. A day that started with a fierce fight to the death and ended with a literal bang. So, it made sense that August and the rest would be exhausted.
But I was different. Maybe it was because of my increased stats that strengthened my body, or maybe it was due to my personal experience fighting to survive. This wasn't my first rodeo after all.
Whatever the reason, as I gazed up into the glowing tapestry of light and listened to the soft, sinister sounds of the night, my eyes remained wide open.
Not that I planned to sleep out in the middle of nowhere, in a field surrounded by monsters. I just found it strange that I didn't even feel the least bit tired.
Usually, when the nights are long and I can't sleep, I meditate.
Ever since I can remember, My father forced me to learn Martial Arts. And, for the most part, I hated every minute of it. I hated the fighting, I hated the training, I hated the constant monotonous repetition that never ended.
But there was one thing I liked about it.
Sometimes, after a particularly tough training session, I would sit alone in my room and just breathe. One deep breath after the other, in through the nose and out through the mouth. My chest was a bellows that pumped air.
Sitting like this, focusing on my breathing helps me calm down. I can throw aside my stress and worries, indulging in the present. When I meditate, I clear my mind of all distracting thoughts, the only thing I think about is the next breath I'm going to take. There are no aching muscles and the fear of tomorrow melts away, leaving only the now.
So, in the stillness of the night, beneath the stars and the moon, I crossed my legs and placed my hands gently on my lap. And I breathed. In and out, each breath was measured and consistent. Just like that, my racing heart calmed and I drifted off into a waking sleep.
I was completely unaware of the small current of invisible energy that slowly swirled around me as I meditated, too preoccupied with my own breathing.