Chapter 6. Too Late

Our group entered the tunnel and soon entered a small cavern. Part of the right side of the cavern seemed to be pot marked with holes like swiss cheese. The upper levels in particular were filled with holes and a faint chittering could be heard coming from the recesses in the cave wall. We stopped wary of the creature behind the noise.

Any discussion on how to proceed was cut off by a scream of pain and shouting coming from the holes and the tunnel ahead. Kyle and his buddies ran ahead and the rest of us followed. What we found was horrifying. A wave of cockroaches was swarming over two bodies on the floor. Two boys and a girl with long black hair were trying to kick back the roaches but were failing miserably. The girl was particularly desperate screaming “Ren! Ren!” over and over. She did not seem to care about the roaches much and was more focused on reaching the body who I assumed was Ren. The roaches were ignoring everything but two victims on the floor. There were some hanging back but since the kicks were not achieving much some were returning to the fray.

The guys and I ran forward to help swinging our weapons from side to side to clear a path toward the two downed victims. It became obvious the girl was doing a better job at keeping the bugs of Ren. She was fearless and despite the situation she seemed to have a clear head. Instead of kicking the bugs away she was reaching down and bending, sometimes ripping out antennas. The roaches cries of pain were discouraging other bugs from taking the places of the injured ones. Kyle and I split from the others to help the girl while the rest helped the two boys.

We went for the joints separating the head from the thorax. We had killed three roaches each and injured a couple more before the rest decided attacking was not worth the trouble and disappeared into the tunnels on the right side of the cave.

The girl knelt before Ren mumbling his name. I heard the boy say the name Rika before going silent. She started shaking him but Kyle stopped her and hugged her saying “He’s gone, He’s gone”.

It was a little premature though since he was obviously still breathing but he didn’t look good, there were chunks of him missing and honestly I felt like puking. I bet he would be dead from blood loss soon and the helplessness of the situation was chilling. I felt desperate and decided to try my hand at healing him. I was pretty sure nothing would come of this but it was worth a shot, I would let my desperation guide me.

I pressed my hands against his the mangled flesh of his ribs, his lifeblood draining through my fingers. Immediately I felt the skill concentrate activating and everything but my hands and the feeling of blood on my fingers faded away. I closed my eyes and attempted to pour my mana into him but I got nowhere, material like rock impedes the flow of mana and although skin and tissue is far more porous it is still hard to move mana through. Moreover his mana pressed against mine and impeded my progress which was only a centimeter at most. I brought more mana down my arm and into my hands but the added pressure only extended my reach another half centimeter. The veins and arteries made it easier but the pressure from his mana kept increasing the farther inside I went.

I tried repelling his mana but the closer my mana came to his the more ‘vague’ it got. Like it was becoming more like his mana. I couldn't control it like that so I tried gaining control of his mana. However it felt like I was fighting another mind for control, subdued yes but I could only take so much so quickly. I felt like I could be stopped easily if he was awake and conscious of my advances upon his mana.

My next act was to try and layer mana convergence under a larger mana repelling area. My mana would be kept in place by the convergence and the repulsion would make it easier for my mana to push against his. This worked well but required heavy concentration and the area of effect could only extend so far. What really sped up my mana invasion though was discovering that I could lock in the pseudo spell for repelling and converging mana by grabbing the surrounding tissue with mana. The act of grabbing seemed to harden my mana and maintain my control.

So I began a cycle to increase my domain, I would break concentration to grab more territory and apply the effect before locking everything down. Rinse and repeat. I also started isolating sections before willing the mana there to become my own. I used my knowledge of fractals to increase the surface area of my influence and increase my domain faster but eventually it became too hard to keep focus on it all. I had to stop my expansion. I was in control of much of the torso and some vein and artery branches leading elsewhere.

Unfortunately I had little idea of what I could do at this point so I just decided to wing it by imagining platelets forming, ATP being produced, blood cells reforming and tissue healing. There was a long pause before I suddenly found my mana pressure lessening.

I opened my eyes to see the bites and mangled flesh on his torso crusting over and new tissue reforming as the scabs fell away. I held the sight in my mind and continued pouring in mana.

But I was too late... Through my mana I felt the flow of blood stop. I despaired. I was too late, my vision became blurry, I thought it was because of tears but it turned out to be symptoms of something worse. I became lightheaded and as my vision slowly went dark my thoughts faded into oblivion.

Colors everywhere, lines being drawn… connecting… fading… Wisps of light swirling about. I felt an irritation that was not my own. Surprise. Understanding. Joy. A smile I could feel but not see. Where was it? Where is this? Fading…

I woke up with a head ache to see my concerned brothers face above me with the girl who I assume to be the Rika the boy talked about at his side. My dream faded. “ How long?” I ask. “Only a few seconds... Did you try to heal him?”.

“Yea… I felt him go, I must have run out of mana” I replied. A quick status confirmed I was at one mana. It also told me I gained a level and had lost some skill points, eight to be precise. I was confused, when had I used skill points?

Above the skill point counter was a new trait called life affinity, the loss of skill points probably had to do with that. I was a little surprised when my request for a log actually went through.

Start Log...

Mana Manipulation Increased To Level 4…

Mana Manipulation Increased To Level 6…

Mana Manipulation Increased To Level 7…

Mana Manipulation Increased To Level 8…

Query For Healing Magic Received…

Affinity Required…

Standing To Low For Holy Affinity…

Knowledge Required For Order Affinity Found…

Error: Affinity Not Applicable To Query Intent…

Knowledge Required For Nature Affinity Found…

Error: Affinity Not Applicable To Query Intent…

System Standing High Enough For Workaround Using New Otherworlder Knowledge...

New Affinity: Life Implemented As Precursor Of Nature Affinity...

Eight Skill Points Taken As Cost For Workaround…

Life Affinity Acquired…

Title Added: Forerunner of Life...

Title Added: Sage of Life...

Warning: Title Bestowed To Individual With Highest Knowledge of Life Magic Automatically…

Error: Title: Forerunner of Life already acquired…

Sage of Life merged into Forerunner of Life, Life Affinity increased...

Proper Affinity Found…

Knowledge Required For Healing Magic Found…

Knowledge Higher Than Needed For Basic Healing Magic…

Requisite Skills Found…

Skill: Tissue Restoration Lv. 1 Acquired…

Skill: Natural Healing Support Lv. 3 Acquired...

One Time Warning: Mana Stores Low - Mana Exhaustion Imminent...

End Log…

Well mana manipulation sure rose quite a bit and I suppose a whole new affinity for only eight points is a steal. I guess I will be the healer from now on. “Are you okay?” Kyle asks. I must have been staring at nothing. “I am okay. I was just looking at my status” I replied. The girl had narrowed her eyes in confusion a bit through our conversation and Kyle helped me stand. I once again looked at the girl kneeling on the ground “Thank you” she mumbled without looking at me, her hands clenched in front of her. I didn’t say anything, I didn’t deserve a thank you. Instead I walked towards the other body. The long blonde hair suggested a female. The throat was ripped to shreds and face mangled. I turned away in horror and disgust feeling like I was going to puke. There was no way I could have saved her.

The others were a little ways away. Tank and one of the new boys were puking while leaning on a nearby column. Jeff had his hand on Tanks back and Chris was sitting with the other boy staring at the holes where the roaches came from. The new boys both had blond hair but had totally different faces, one was sharp and the other stocky. It did not look like they were some of the players. Everyone looked shell shocked.

I noticed Maggie and Karla had walked over to Rika and were consoling her along with Kyle. As I eavesdropped on their conversation I confirmed that her name was indeed Rika and that the boy was her brother Ren.

I was also close enough to overhear the conversation between the guys behind me. Apparently they they were attacked by giant beetles in a large cavern four caves back. At first it was just one that bit the dead girl on her leg after rushing out from behind a column. It would have turned out worse except another beetle showed up and began to hiss at the other beetle. Ren used that chance to try and pull the girl away. The first beetle lunged at him but the other beetle used that chance to begin its attack. Ren still got a gash on his arm from a swipe from the first beetle but they all succeeded in carrying the girl away. They stopped to rest in this cavern and the rest is history.

I thought the roaches were scavengers but apparently they are opportunists as well. At least they are smart enough to retreat when threatened and not mindless killers who incessantly attack anything that bleeds. I am also glad they did not realize they could have done some damage to those of us who are not injured. I hope we did not run into those beetles they were talking about.

I decided to sit down and take a break, wait for everyone to settle down.