Chapter 20: Reckless
While Jay, Lexie, and Angela were facing a big setback in the hospital, something quieter was unfolding back at the library.
Ian couldn't sit still. The voice in his head had stirred his hunger for strength. He paced like a caged animal, eyes flicking toward the door every few minutes.
"Brother, how about we go out and level up?" he finally asked Hendrick, trying to sound casual.
"No. It's too dangerous." Hendrick rejected him without even looking up.
"Jay and the others managed just fine. We just need to be careful."
"It's not the same," Hendrick said, firm. "And they asked us to stay put. We don't need trouble."
Look at him. Such a good little dog. I can almost hear the tail wagging.
Shut up!
Ian's fists clenched. "Why do we have to listen to them? They're not the only ones who get to grow stronger."
"There's no need to do something stupid," Hendrick replied, exasperated. "We'll get our chance." He too wanted to get stronger. If it were just the zombies, he wouldn't be so reluctant. But he had seen the Fehl, the wasps and the gigantic corpse of the mantis. Any of those things could easily claim their lives. There was no need to be foolhardy when they could rely on Jay and the others.
Ian snapped. "So, you're fine just hiding behind that guy and his chick now? Since when did you become a damn bootlicker?"
SLAP.
The sound cracked through the room.
"Watch your tone," Hendrick said, eyes hard.
Ian staggered, hand pressed to his cheek, shocked more by the betrayal than the pain. "You… you actually hit me?"
"I…" Hendrick's hand hovered, unsure what to do. But Ian had already backed away.
"Don't bother." Ian shoved him aside and stormed up the stairs.
Damian walked up to Hendrick. "Hey, what was that about?" He had noticed when the two started arguing. But he wasn't too willing to meddle in the two brothers' matters.
Hendrick rubbed his face. "Nothing. It's fine."
"You sure? That looked… rough."
"He'll be fine. Just give him space."
Damian hesitated, then nodded. "Still, you should talk with him."
Nearby, Louisa chuckled and leaned toward Sylvi. "He had it coming."
Sylvi frowned. "Don't say that. They're brothers."
"He's been an ass to everyone since the beginning," Louisa muttered. "What did he expect?"
Even Alex glanced over, but seeing it hadn't come to blows, stayed silent. He had no love for Ian either.
****
Upstairs, Ian kicked a chair aside and sat down, seething. The slap still burned, but worse was the shame. The eyes. The whispers.
"That smug bitch," he growled, pounding his fist on the table as Louisa's face flashed in his mind.
Hehehe.
His eyes narrowed. "What's so funny?"
Your weakness. Why wait for your brother?
Ian walked to the window, breathing hard.
"Will you help me?" he asked, not sure if he was talking to the voice… or himself.
I was just waiting for that.
Ian nodded and stepped over the window's edge.
****
Meanwhile, back in the hospital, Jay kept watch on the door while Lexie and Angela searched the shelves for everything they needed.
With a moment to breathe, he pulled up his status panel and made a few last-minute adjustments. After what happened earlier, he dumped three of his four remaining points into Mystery.
He'd already experimented with boosting his magical stats before.
Willpower was quite vague as he only felt himself getting more grounded and calmer. That was not something new for him. His thoughts were sharper, too, like fog lifting from his mind.
Wisdom had a more immediate effect. His thinking speed and problem-solving ability kicked up. His memory became clearer. It also seemed to help balance out his heightened perception.
But Mystery was something else entirely. As he added each point, the world changed. Everything around him felt richer—more vivid and alive. The air shimmered with an unseen presence.
So, this is mana.
His MP ticked up by fifteen points, but he frowned. It wasn't much. One point of Constitution would have brought him ten HP. It felt like a poor investment. Still, he didn't regret it. There was more to this than mere numbers.
"We're back," Lexie said, snapping Jay from his thoughts. Behind her was a cart loaded with a liquid nitrogen tank, two oxygen tanks, several bottles of alcohol, soap, and rags.
They didn't waste time talking. The plan was already clear.
Jay and Lexie quickly set to work, putting together a handful of Molotov cocktails. It didn't take long. Once prepped, they positioned the oxygen tanks by the door and dragged a metal table over for cover.
"Here." Angela handed them gas masks.
Just as they put them on and hid behind the table, the door burst open. The frozen corpses charged in.
Without hesitation, Jay hurled the Molotovs while Lexie fired.
With the sound of glass shattering, fire spread wildly around the tanks. A shrill whistle.
Then…
BOOM.
The oxygen tanks erupted in twin fireballs, the explosions sending out searing shockwaves. Sparks and flame spread across the room as the blast ripped apart the leading corpses and hurled the rest into the air like rag dolls.
"Take that, science magic," Lexie muttered, grinning as the heat slammed into them, the table groaning under the force. Even shielded, they felt the burn against their skins.
Then, silence. Just the soft crackle of dying flames.
Jay started to peek over the table when a sudden gust of cold ripped through the room.
The fires were snuffed in an instant. The searing cooled down and frost raced across the floor and walls.
As the room turned to ice, Jay felt the cold bite into his skin. His limbs stiffened, his movements becoming sluggish.
{Status Effect – Frozen Aura: Movement speed reduced by 10%. Lose 1 HP every 5 seconds while within range.}
He gritted his teeth. "Damn chill."
Unlike him, Lexie rushed forward, completely unbothered. In fact, she moved faster.
Vaulting over the table with ease, she closed the gap to the nearest frozen. Green Shredder flew through the air and slammed against its neck. There was a split-second of resistance—then, with a twist of her wrist, the blade tore through. The head dropped, followed by the body.
Then as if it had lost its support, it melted into a puddle.
Jay pressed forward behind her, but every step felt heavier the closer he got to the frozen corpses. The aura was oppressive, like moving through slush. Still, he fought through it.
It helped that Lexie was tearing through them like a storm.
And many of the frozen were already mangled from the explosion, their limbs barely holding together. With Lexie cutting a path, and Jay backing her up, they finished the last of them within minutes.
As the final frozen collapsed, Jay didn't lower his guard. He could feel it. The Fehl was still lurking. Watching. But not attacking.
"It's afraid," Jay muttered, panting slightly. "The ice. I think it's afraid of it." That would explain why it had left the frozen corpse alone before they came.
Lexie gave a quiet nod, crouching beside the nearest melted corpse. Something gleamed faintly in the sludge. A small, blue marble.
She picked it up, frowning. "What's this?"
"No idea," Jay replied, stepping closer. "It dropped from the corpse?"
"Yeah. Some of them do." She swept her eyes over the battlefield and collected a few more. Five in total.
"Maybe they are cores," Jay said, eyeing them.
"Then I definitely want them." Lexie pocketed the marbles and stood.
Behind them, Angela stepped out, her brows knitting at the strangely clean battlefield. "Is it done?"
"Yeah," Lexie said. "We only have the Fehl left."
Angela's eyes flicked to Jay's hands—frostbitten and stiff. "Will you be alright?"
"We'll deal with it after," Jay said. His voice was steady, but his fingers twitched as he flexed them. "Let's end this first."
Angela didn't look convinced, but she didn't argue. "Be careful."
Jay gave her a small nod, then turned toward the door. Lexie followed, dragging the nitrogen tank with a focused expression.
The moment Jay stepped through the door, multiple tendrils of blood erupted from the hallway like spears.
With a swift sidestep, he let them pass by, then slashed clean through them.
The severed tips hit the ground—hissing with frost where his blade passed—before twitching and writhing weakly.
The Fehl recoiled, tendrils retreating like worms scorched by fire.
"So, the cold is really the solution," Jay whispered, glancing at his blade still covered in the frozen blood.
The hallway pulsed, thick with tension and the metallic stench of blood. The Fehl's body had expanded to three time its initial size. Turning into a massive red blob writhing up and down in the shadow. Around it, a faint red mist spread, casting an eerie glow.
Jay adjusted his grip on Green Shredder. Lexie cracked her neck and opened the nitrogen valve slightly, letting a faint plume of white vapor hiss into the air.
The Fehl shrieked in response.
Jay moved first.
He dashed forward, blade low, eyes scanning the creature's shifting form. The Fehl responded instantly, lashing out with a wave of blood spikes. Jay ducked and rolled beneath them.
Lexie rushed in behind him, sweeping the nitrogen hose in a wide arc. A mist of supercooled vapor blasted across the hallway. The Fehl let out an inhuman scream, parts of its surface flash-freezing and cracking like thin glass.
Without hesitation, Jay slammed his blade into one of the frozen spots. With a crunch, the frost-covered mass shattered, and the Fehl stumbled backward, tendrils flailing blindly.
The Fehl shrieked and recoiled, tendrils flailing in blind panic. But Jay pressed without stopping, his blade dancing around him, cutting every tendril that came near him.
Lexie cranked the valve wider. A pressurized blast roared toward the Fehl.
It twisted. Jay lunged to pursue but staggered mid-step. He felt a hand clutch his heart and his blood froze.
Dozens of tendrils shot from the the Fehl, trying to skewer him.
"Jay!" Lexie's voice snapped through the haze.
She blurred into view, grabbed his collar, and yanked him out of the way just as the tendrils struck where he'd been.
With one hand, she hurled the nitrogen tank toward the Fehl. With the other, she raised her rifle and fired.
The tank erupted in midair. White fog swallowed the hallway. Frost spread in seconds, freezing another chunk of the Fehl in place. The creature writhed, screeching in pain.
Jay dropped to one knee, exhaling hard.
"Thanks," he muttered, forcing himself back up, the frostbite biting into his fingers.
Lexie didn't answer. Her eyes were locked on the Fehl, watching it ripple and retreat deeper behind the mist.
"It's weakening," she said.
"Let's end this."
Jay rose to his feet and charged through the fog, Lexie close behind, blade ready.
But as the mist parted, they both froze.
The Fehl was no longer flailing. It wasn't retreating. It stood still. Its massive, twisted form had shrunk, coiling in on itself.
Blood pooled beneath it, but none of it moved. The crimson mist had thinned. The air was quieter.
Lexie narrowed her eyes. "That's... not right."
Jay stepped closer, wary. The creature didn't react. Then he saw it. At the center of the mass, barely visible through layers of coagulated blood, was a pulsing, glowing red core. It looked like a heart, beating slow and heavy.
A chill ran down his spine.
"It's playing dead."
As if hearing his words, the core pulsed harder. The blood around it began to rise.