8 Basic knowledge regarding the Apocalypse (1/2)
Rahul heard my words and shook his head with a bitter smile.
”How can it be that easy. Do you really think that it's easy to kill an Abnormal. Did you forget how you almost died while trying to kill that female Abnormal.”
His words broke my fantasy and brought me back to reality.
'That's right. I am not capable of killing even a single Abnormal. How can it be easy to kill 10 Abnormals.'
'But still. This is better than nothing' I thought and shook my head.
'This Crystal is a way for us humans to rapidly gain strength. Plus, killing a Abnormal doesn't necessarily mean going head to head against them.'
'One could use various means to kill them. Hit them with a car. Blow them with some explosives. Burn them with molotov. Set them up with a trap.' I could come with a lot of ways to kill those Abnormals given enough time.
”What are you thinking?” Rahul asked with an amused expression.
”I'm thinking of ways to kill these Abnormals.” I said with excitement which provoked a laugh from him.
”I see.” He smiled. ”But let's distribute these crystals before we do anything else.”
”Distribute them?” I asked in confusion.
”Yes. We are a team so it's important that we distribute the rewards equally.”
”No.” I denied at once without even thinking.
I knew that he was giving me the crystals only because I was his brother and not because we're a team or something.
'Even without my presence, he could have killed those Abnormals just as easily.'
'If I took those precious crystals for free then I would be truly ashamed of myself. So I shook my head decisively without a second thought.'
'Moreover, he was much better at fighting than me. If he eats those crystals, the the fighting power of our family will increase significantly. But if I eat them, then the situation won't change that much.'
So even though I coveted those crystals and kept them in high regard, I decided that I would not eat them no matter what he said.
”Why?” He asked with surprise. ”Aren't we a team.”
”We are. But didn't contribute anything this time. I cannot take the reward without contributing anything.”
”Is that so.” He said with surprise. ”I didn't knew you had such a side as well.”
”What do you mean?” I asked gravely. 'Are you cursing me indirectly or something.'
”Nothing.” He smiled. ”If that's your decision then I won't push you.”
”Alright then. Let me tell you how these crystals work.” He said and started explaining.
”As I said earlier. There are 5 types of crystals. Those are Red, Blue, Green, Yellow and Black crystals which increase your Strength, Agility, Endurance, Perception and Mana respectively.”
”Right now we have Red, Blue and Yellow colored crystals. Eating them will increase my Strength, Agility and Perception by 0.1 each.” After saying that he put the three crystals in his mouth and gulped them down with some water.
I kept looking at his body. Will his muscles increase. Will he become taller. Will his eyes start glowing.
After waiting for a while, nothing happened.
”Did it work?” I asked.
Instead of telling me anything, he smiled, opened the hologram and showed me the interface instead.
User name:- Rahul Singh Rana (Second-Timer)
Stats:-
Strength - 1.0 (0.9)
Agility - 0.9 (0.8)
Endurance - 0.7
Perception - 1.5 (1.4)
Mana - 0.0
Skills:-
None
Equipments:-
None
Wealth:-
None
”So it really did work.” I said in realization.
”What? You're expecting my body to glow or something.” He said with a laugh.
”Not really but…” before I could finish, I felt a faint vibration from my pocket. I took out the smartphone and realized that there was an incoming call from Neha.
”What happened Neha.” I said as I received the call.
”Brother.” Neha's teary voice came from the other side.
”Oi. Neha. What happened to you. Are you in any danger?” I asked in panic. 'Shit! What happened to her.'
”Brother… They… Outside…” she said before breaking into sobs.
Before I could say anything the phone was once again snatched from my hands. But this time, I didn't protest. Rahul could do a far better job at comforting her than me.
'Your heartbeat is getting faster and faster. Are you afraid for her safety.' Lily's voice rang in my head.
'Yes.' I said and shook my head. 'Dammit. I should have been there for her. What kind of Elder brother am I.'
'It's not your fault.' She said in a soft tone which managed to calm me down somehow.
'But still…'
'Don't think too much about it. You're already doing the best you can, aren't you.'
'Well… I understand. Thank you.'
'You don't need to thank me. This is something that I should do.'
'Hmm?'
'Nothing.'
”It's alright.” I heard Rahul's calm and steady voice when I came to myself. ”Put some cotton in your ears. Don't focus on their cries.”
”Don't worry. We're coming. We'll reach there as soon as possible.”
”Yeah.”
”No. Do not worry about our safety. We're completely fine here. Trust in us.” He continued to coax her, but this time, even I could see that it was not working.
'What's worrying her so much?' I wondered but suddenly got an idea.
”Pass the phone to me.” I said to Rahul.
”Huh!” He looked at me with confusion.
”Give me the damn phone.” I said and snatched it from him.
”Oi Neha.”
”Yes big brother.” She said between sobs.
”Stop crying like a little girl.” I reprimanded her and then continued. ”Look at your left hand. Is there a watch in your hand?”
”Huh!” Neha's surprised voice came from the other end of the phone. ”How did you know? And… when did it come to my hand. I don't remember wearing such a thing.”
”Oi Ashok. It's… it's… it's merged with my hands.” Her fascinated voice surprised me a bit.
'Wasn't her change a bit too abrupt.'
”Don't worry that's…” I wanted to say 'not dangerous' but my sentence was cut off by her excited voice.
”So cool right. And what this. It's shining. Is this thing really a watch? What does it do?” she said
”Oi Ashok. There's some old guy talking in my head. That's… that's… That's so awesome.” She continued talking to herself.
”What? AI. This is so cool. Ashok I'll talk to you later. Okay. Bye.” And then she cut the line.
I waited for a good ten seconds to register what had happened.
I wanted to distract her from her troubles by telling her about the Black Watch. I had hoped that there would be an AI in her watch as well who could comfort her.
But who knew that she would get so excited that she'd not only stop worrying, she even cut the phone and ignored me mercilessly. Just for that Black Watch.
Is that Black watch really more important than me. Damn it! I won't talk to her again anytime soon.