Chapter 25: I Need Your Help
The room suddenly fell into a sepulchral silence. The stillness was only interrupted by the distant echo of the wind seeping through the cracks. The air was dense, heavy, and saturated with the metallic scent of dust and smoke.
Some of the monitors had been destroyed, possibly by powers derived from the explosion or the fire. Dark soot still remained on the floor, and no matter how much the culprits had wanted to hide it, it had been impossible.
Richard stared at everyone present.He didn't recognize any of them as possible Warlords. It was very likely that all of them had died without proving their ability, or else none of them had the talent to ever reach that level of evolution.
"What is happening here?" Noah's voice cracked like a whip.
The silence broke, and many looked down at the darkened floor. Noah's eyes burned with a dark fire, the same fire that had kept the base alive until now. However, the commander had already singled out three culprits: a pyromaniac, a blood addict, and an explosion enthusiast. Three of the strongest awakened, but no one in life was perfect, and much less them.
Noah's brow furrowed. This was costing him more than he was willing to admit. The abuse of talents was not only a matter of discipline: it was an addiction, a gangrene that spread both through flesh and mind. The same had happened with his other men in the battalion, but none of them possessed the same destructive power as these three young ones.
"I don't know what to do with you…" he growled, releasing a sigh that seemed to carry years of exhaustion. "Come on… clean up this mess."
He refused to punish them. A bad decision in Richard's personal opinion. After all, he was giving them too much freedom. Those three were like wild animals trapped in a cage with an old tiger. Sooner or later, once they realized they could not be restrained, they would tear apart the tiger and destroy everything from within.
Richard dropped onto one of the few chairs that had survived the blast. The wood creaked under his weight, as if it too wanted to break. He shook his head, dejected.
"This isn't going to last long…" he murmured under his breath, barely to himself.
He had to find a way to heal Emma and leave quickly. The only thing he hoped was that none of Emma's parents revealed their talents, otherwise it would be much more complicated to leave.
It was then that one of the ones who had caused the disaster approached him. His skin bore ancient burn scars: deformed lines that looked as if they had been carved into his body by fire. Richard studied him carefully. Now that he looked closer, it was no surprise that he radiated an energy capable of rivaling Amelia's father.
"Sorry, you know how it is with talents."The young man forced a tense smile.
The instant he spoke, Richard's ability activated, revealing what truly made the young man dangerous.
[[Name: John] [Age: 25 years]
[Talent: Flame of Judgment] [Rank: A]
[Infection Level: Threshold of Humanity][Stage: Limit]
[Ability: Flame of Judgment][The user summons a crimson fire that not only consumes matter but also the desire of those it touches. The flames feed on the emotional and vital energy of their victims. Even if their bodies withstand the heat, it weakens them. The more chaotic and desperate the fight becomes, the more violent and hungry these flames grow.]]
Richard narrowed his eyes, surprised to find the second person, not counting himself, to have reached the Limit stage, on the verge of stepping into the next stage of evolution. After all, each stage—whether Initial, Intermediate, or Limit—represented a much greater difficulty than simply accumulating necroplasmic energy to continue advancing.
The Initial stage was simple, almost natural: blood was the first element to be modified, flowing with the awakening. However, to reach the Intermediate stage, it was necessary to create stronger bones, with the hardness of stone. You had the choice of wasting your energy on the brain, lungs, or heart… but eventually, you would hit the wall. The path was only sustained by the bones.
The Limit stage was different. It demanded a step that was extremely rare to take: the forging of the flesh. And it was precisely for this reason that the subsequent stage of evolution was called Flesh Forger.
Richard understood it with crystal clarity. It was impossible that both Amelia's father and this reckless young man had reached this level so soon without having known from the very beginning the secret: strengthening flesh and bones in harmony. Now they only had to gather the necessary necroplasmic energy to cross the final wall that in a way still kept them between the human and the superhuman.
Of course, none of them understood the true scope of this path. If they had known that bones could be refined until they became golden bones, and that flesh could harden until it reached the toughness of living iron, they would never have considered advancing so hastily to the next evolution.
Though if they had known that the skeleton and flesh could be improved to have golden bones and iron flesh, they would not have chosen to step into the next level of life, because they would have been falling into the same misfortune as hundreds of people who regretted their entire lives not becoming a God of War.
Noah approached after speaking with John. He had that typical look Richard already knew too well, the one that always meant trouble.
"What do you say, Richard? Do you think you could accompany us on the next expedition?"
Amelia's father quickly joined the conversation, stepping forward with quick strides.
"Depends…" Richard narrowed his eyes, showing no intention of refusing. "When do we leave? And how long will we be gone?"
Seeing that Richard did not reject the proposal, Amelia's father hurried to give the details.
"We leave in the afternoon. We'll be gone for about two days."
With that, he handed over an iPad with the coordinates marked on the screen. A single red dot stood out in the middle of the map. However, when zooming in, Richard could see multiple targets marked across the region.
Amelia's father had mapped the nearby military installations. Old ammunition depots, border forts, and industrial warehouses that had been abandoned after the collapse.
Richard closed his eyes for a moment, calculating the risks. He couldn't deny that such an expedition was dangerous, but it also offered an advantage too tempting to ignore. If he played his cards right, he could pocket some weapons without raising suspicion. After all, he still carried one of the storage rings crafted by Ethan.
Although once he reached the next stage of evolution he would no longer need weapons, with Ethan as the craftsman he could synthesize them all into artifacts similar to his well-used dagger.
Richard unconsciously caressed the hilt of the dagger hidden at his belt.
Finally, he lifted his gaze and shook Noah's hand.He didn't say anything about the weapons; he knew there was no chance of negotiating with them unless he brought out the food he had hidden. And that… that would be a far too dangerous mistake.
"Let me prepare, and we'll leave…"
* * * *
As soon as he closed the door to his room, he spread the papers over the table and prepared the brush. The reddish liquid with golden reflections gleamed. The first thing he had to do was secure a good supply of runes, even if it weakened him for quite some time.
The first stroke slid with surgical precision. Then, the second. The third. Each line seemed to vibrate in the air, causing a current of wind to stir in the isolated room. The runes soon began to absorb the necroplasmic energy from the surroundings with an insatiable hunger.
Richard clenched his jaw. He felt weaker and weaker as the energy drained from his body.
"If I weren't awakened, I would probably be suffering from anemia."
The third set of runes was finished. His vision flickered for an instant, his eyes nearly lost their light for a second. With a rough sigh, he set the brush aside and stepped out into the hallway.
"What are you doing, Richard?"Ethan was surprised as Richard pulled him along, though he received no explanation. No matter how much they had said that energy was being preserved by shutting off most of the lights in the base, nothing guaranteed that there weren't cameras.
Richard stopped when he didn't sense anything wrong in one of the corridors."I'm leaving this afternoon with the others from the base, and I need you to protect the family in my absence."
He pulled two thin runes with simple strokes from his belt and handed them to Ethan."They're for communication. If something happens… let me know."
Then, he drew out two more. These were different: denser, with a fire symbol."These… are for danger. If you use them, you'll unleash an explosion capable of killing an awakened."
Ethan's face lost its color. He almost handed the runes back to Richard when he heard the word explosion."Isn't it too dangerous to give this to me?"
Richard pressed the runes back into his hands."As long as you don't put blood on it, it shouldn't activate… I think."