Chapter 31 – Rain
The storm did not relent. Sheets of rain poured endlessly from the heavens, drumming against the ruined street, the broken houses, the rusting shells of cars long abandoned.
Seth let it wash over him.
Every drop on his skin was magnified, each sensation sharper, clearer than it had ever been before. His heightened physique tuned him into the world in ways both subtle and profound. The rain wasn't just wet anymore—it carried weight, coolness, rhythm. It struck him like tiny needles, slid down his muscles like rivulets of silk. It was cleansing, peeling away more than dirt.
Exhaling softly, he slid down from the car hood and began to wipe at his skin. The filth that had clung to him for weeks came away in streaks, strips of dried blood and grime dissolving into the water before dripping to the ground.
Layer by layer, Seth was revealed again.
Not much to look at. Not someone anyone would turn their head for in a crowd. His hair was short, his build lean, his face utterly forgettable. Average—that was the word. Always had been.
But now… now there was a shift. His physique had grown, his features sharpening ever so slightly. He still wasn't handsome, not yet, but he had begun edging away from mediocrity. The line was tilting, however faintly, toward something else.
Who knows what he'd look like in another few months?
Soon, his clothes were discarded entirely, draped over the car frame.
He stood stark naked beneath the storm, letting the rain cascade down his body. His skin was no longer dull, no longer caked with filth. It gleamed faintly beneath the lightning, smoother, firmer, carrying a vitality that almost seemed to glow.
Seth stared down at his hands, opening and closing his fingers slowly. The difference was subtle yet undeniable.
A thunderous crash echoed in the distance, shaking him from his thoughts. Another house collapsing under the weight of the storm. The second one tonight.
Seth sighed and turned his gaze back to the rags hanging limply on the rusted door. What once might have been clothes were now only blood-stained, dirt-caked remnants. Their original color was a mystery lost to time.
He felt no desire to put them back on. But he had no choice, did he? Either wear them or walk bare to the world. Neither option sounded appealing.
After a long moment of quiet weighing, he picked up the shorts and held them beneath the rain. He scrubbed at them with his hands, water running red as the filth loosened. The stains faded but never truly left; no matter how long he worked, the water still swirled faintly crimson.
Still, when he finally wrung them out and hung them back on the frame, he felt something loosen in his chest. A small satisfaction.
He repeated the process with the shirt, then returned to the car hood.
The rain continued to hammer down, but Seth no longer cared. He lay on his back, eyes closed, the storm rolling across his body like a living blanket. The thought of going back into the ruined building crossed his mind, but he dismissed it. With the way the houses were collapsing tonight, he preferred the open sky above him, even if it meant sleeping in the rain.
And besides… this felt right. The rain, the cold, the raw sensation of it all—it was perfect.
A subtle smile tugged at his lips as his body relaxed.
If the night ended like this, he could almost call it perfect but....
Buzz.
The sound was faint at first, almost lost to the storm. But it grew steadily louder, deeper, carrying the thrumming menace of heavy wings.
Seth's brow twitched.
He wasn't the only one enjoying the weather, it seemed.
Buzz.
A black shadow cut across the storm clouds—a two-meter insect with a hard carapace and twitching mandibles, wings slicing the air with a relentless hum.
Seth's lips pressed into a thin line. He prayed briefly that it would pass, that he could have his moment uninterrupted. He didn't want blood on his clean skin again, not so soon.
But of course, the buzz drew closer.
With a sigh, Seth cracked open one eye. His expression was already frowning. His sword manifested in his hand, lengthening, expanding until it was a gleaming 2ft long blade in the stormlight.
The insect descended.
Seth didn't even bother sitting up. One lazy swipe was all it took.
with his strength, the blade sang through the air, and the insect split cleanly in half, its pieces thudding wetly to the ground.
"Level seven," Seth muttered, closing his eye again.
He dismissed the blade and rolled slightly on the hood, letting the storm cradle him back into stillness.
"Hopefully," he whispered, his voice already tinged with a hint of irritation, "nothing else disturbs me tonight."
And with that, Seth spent the rest of the night enjoying the sensation of water on his skin, the rain falling endlessly around him.