Half an hour later, Blake and Cassie—the name he got by going through her status window, were eating a meal he had prepared from the beasts flesh and other ingredients he could gather.
'This tastes good,' he thought. With the extinction of animals, the price of meat had soared high. Also, the stocked up were hoarded by the rich, leaving the rest of the populace to struggle. Later on, after the first ascendants came back from the towers, they brought along more knowledge
The hub having a special compartment were one could get beast meat in exchange with Tower points.
After years, this was the first time he had eaten meat. A good one at that. It was said the beasts' meat from the towers when cooked with the right stuff were highly nutritious and also increased one's mana.
How long have you been in here, he muttered, staring at the girl who gulped down the last bits of food on her plate. Letting out a blurb, she smiled at him for the first time.
Just from the meal, her face had brightened up a little. She rose from her chair and bowed her head.
"Huhh. You're trying to thank me. I see."
'Does that mean she can't talk?' Blake thought to himself. "Hey. Cassie. That's your name, right?" He finally asked with a soft voice.
"Ca..Ca..ssie...Cassie. Yes." After a few trials, she was able to say the name.
"Oh. It's alright." Ruffling her blonde hair, he rose from the ground.
'Well, I don't know what happened and I wanna find out. Staying here would only delay me. Also, I can't just leave her here. It appears she suffering from shock or something like that,' Blake thought, scratching his head.
'She would come with me then!' With that decided, he readied whatever equipment he would need and then hesitated for a moment before bringing out the yellow gems. During the meal preparation, he had asked the system about the mana stones and had gotten quite the information.
[The yellow gem is a mana stone. All beasts have mana stone in them, just like humans having mana core... The mana stone can be absorbed to increase one strength and level up...]
[System needs upgrade for further details...]
"Huh? That's strange? Upgrade? How do I go about that now."
[The user window is quite outdated and would need to be upgraded in one of the towers]
"I see. I was about to explore a bit. Maybe I could just check out the tower. That means I would be going the opposite way from the castle."
"That's good." He muttered. Leaving in the forest, he wasn't oblivious to the various rumors about the Frostbite Continent and their ruler. One of the seven Ascendant who first entered the tower and the continent being named after him.
That said. The Frostbite family were infamous for their cruel upbringing of their youngsters. Those who failed to expectation were cast away and thrown out to survive on their own.
The palace within the district was one of the many castles he had within the continent. Going there, Blake was sure he wouldn't be received with open arms. After the strange tower encounter, his trust in people had lessened further.
"Now I have twenty mana stones. How do I go about sharing it among us? Giving your condition, I would have preferred you to take everything, but that could have some effect on you."
Dividing it after some thought, he kept five in his inventory and gave seven to Cassie, leaving him with eight mana stones.
Now holding onto one of the mana stones, the system notification had popped up, and without much thought, he accepted.
The yellow glow pulsed faintly, and slowly, it began to dim. Blake felt the energy entering his body, causing a refreshing sensation. "It's just like back then, but this time around, we get to absorb it ourselves."
Absorbing the second and third, he got used to the feeling. Within minutes, he had absorbed all, yet the notification he was waiting for never came.
"No level up," he muttered with a sigh. "Alright, let's get on with you, Cassie."
With his assistance, she was able to absorb all. During the process, she leveled up twice.
Nice.
Her body had gone through slight changes also. Holding her hands, he was able to check her system panel.
[Name: Cassie Thane]
[Race: Human]
[Ability: Heal]
[Class: N/A]
[Rank: Mortal]
[Talent: Red]
[Level: 2]
[Mana: 40]
[Battle Power: 10]
[Intelligence: 7]
[SKILLS]
[Healing Aura: Able to emit a healing aura, passively healing those around]
[Regeneration: Increase healing rate and able to restore oneself from damage]
He now knew how she had been able to stay alive without food and water for countless days...weeks?
"That's a nice ability, and you've got the talent to go with it also. Alright, everything is set."
They slowly made their out of the hotel. During the process, Blake killed three wandering beasts before finally emerging outside. The snow was still falling, but he had ensured Cassie was properly clothed.
They made their way through the pavements, ensuring to keep to the buildings. Blake wasn't sure about the beasts all being weak and didn't want to make a mistake that would put Cassie in danger.
During the walk, he was able to explore the area, searching a few houses.
'It's deserted. The further we head away, the less the houses are in good condition.'
As they advanced deeper toward the tower direction, most houses they saw were torn apart.
Also, the beasts they encountered were getting frequent. Though they didn't pose a problem, he couldn't shake the feeling of something ominous lurking behind the shadows.
It wasn't long before his feelings were proved right. During one of his usual fights with the beasts, from the shadow, a massive figure appeared.
Although similar to the other beasts, this one was thrice their size and was more menacing. The tentacles from the center of its body wrapped and twisted to other parts of its body, oozing out a dark mist. Its eyes also appeared to be revolving with the same dark mist. Its hands curved into deadly scythes, cleaved through the group of beasts cleanly cutting them apart.
Blake was just in time to jump away. He didn't know if the scythe would be able to slice him apart and wasn't ready to find out. Leaping backward, he appeared before the terrified Cassie.
"Big... Monster," she muttered with a pale expression. "Don't worry... I'll protect you." Blake said, rising to his feet.
'The problem is the remaining little beasts roaming about. I would need to deal with them first.' He thought brandishing his daggers. "Alright, let's do this!" Charging forward, he swung his chained daggers in a circular motion, tearing through a group of beasts.
From his sides, the large beast shot forward at an incredible speed, but Blake was able to evade in time. Leaping backward, he barely evaded the massive scythe, which struck the ground, breaking a large chunk of the earth.
"It would be on the same level as those Serpentine beasts back in the cave. He muttered. "Do I have the strength to take it down?"
Glancing towards her direction, his eyes released a strange glint. "No, I'll take it down!" Dashing forward, he evaded the desperate attacks of the beasts, taking advantage of its huge body.
During the process, he carefully took out the remaining small beasts. "Alright, you've your fun. It's my turn now!" Charging straight at the beast, he leapt high landing on the huge scythe.
Swinging down, the beast struggled to bring him down but failed miserably. Its eyes widened as it couldn't see the figure again.
Appearing before the beast, he swung his daggers in a vertical slash, cutting off both of its eyes. And then stabbed down.
A loud, painful roar echoed within the area as the beast shook madly from the pain wrecking its eyes. The blade still stuck in its eyes, he muttered softly. "Explode."
ROAARR!
The beast roared in agony as it staggered backwards. Its face was a bloody mess with blood dripping down to the ground. Leaping from the beast head into the air, he swung its daggers down, aiming to decapitate the beast in one stroke.
"Arghhh!" A scream echoed into the area. One Blake instantly recognised. "Shit!" Glancing behind, he could see Cassie on the floor with one of the small beasts standing before her.
"Shit!" He was already in a swinging motion, and he couldn't divert all of a sudden. After all the laws of physics still hold at his current rank. "Dammit! Not again!" He groaned in his mind. "She can't die! Not in my presence!"
As if hearing his thoughts, a strange mist slowly emerged from his back, transforming into a figure. Dropping to the ground, the figure stretched out his hands.
The beast with raised claws was suddenly engulfed in a vortex of flames...