9 Increasing the sPerceptions Sta (1/2)
”Brother.” I said in a low tone. ”Do we really need to fight those Abnormals. It's not like they are blocking our way or something. Shouldn't we focus on going back to Neha as soon as possible”
”It's not as simple as you think little brother.” Rahul said. ”In case you've no yet realized it, the world that we lived in is gone. If we don't become powerful then even if we get back home, it won't make much of adifference as we'll still be in danger.”
”At this point, these Abnormals are at their weakest state. This is the best time to get ourselves some crystals and become stronger. If we let this chance pass by, then they will only continue to become stronger and the situation will become even more dangerous.” He said
”So as we are going back home, we should search and grab as many opportunities as possible to get those crystals. Do you understand.” He said.
”Yes.” I said. ”I understand.”
Since we started moving south, we'd been maintaining a fixed distance from the highway as it was filled with Abnormals.
Rahul told me that if any abnormals walked astray from the highway and came to the forest, then we would be able to hunt it and take it's crystal.
He also told me that he might be able to deal with one or two abnormals, but no more than that.
If we try to attack a group of 3 or more Abnormals, then even if we kill 2 of them in quick succession, the 3rd one will definitely hear the sounds and find us.
After all just because they have a bad eyesight doesn't mean they're blind. They're still able to see someone at a close distance of 3-4 meters.
If an Abnormals sees us, then it'll start shrieking before even attacking.
This was an inherent quality that could be found in all the Abnormals.
If they find a prey, then they'll shriek before the start attacking it so that the rest of the abnormals can know about it as well.
Thus, if we make a mistake and got the whole horde into our trail, then that would be potentially disastrous for us.
So even though we're walking along with the highway, as it would lead us home, we still maintained a fixed distance of 100 meters from it and had been extremely vigilant all the while.
That way, we could remain in the dark while still keeping an eye at the situation and look for any opportunity where some Abnormals might have trailed off from the highway and got away from the rest of the horde.
And after walking for three hours, our patience had paid at last.
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'One, two, three, four. There are four people in the car. I guess I should say four Abnormals now.'
'There are only three. One of them don't have any vital signs of life.' Lily's voice rang in my ear. It seemed she had finally decided to come out of her cocoon.
'You're can read vital signs from such a distance.'
'Not really. But I can see that his head burst open when the car collided with the tree. No human will be able to turn into Abnormal after that.' She said with a snort. 'You're really an idiot aren't you.'
'Ahh! I didn't notice that. Guess I'm still too nervous. You're a smart girl Lily. Good job.'
'Hmph. It's not me who's smart. Just you who's too foolish.' She said with disdain.
'Alright. I'm not gonna fight with you anymore. I'm too mature for that.' I said and once again stared at the Car that had trailed off a fair distance away from the highway.
Looking at it's condition, I could guess that the people inside must have been driving on the highway when the Severe pain hit them. The driver must have lost control due to extreme pain, and thus the car got off the highway and drifted off in the forest. It must have been travelling at a fast speed as it travelled a long distance before crashing into that sturdy tree.
'Hearing the sounds they're making from inside the car. It seems like none of them are a human anymore.' I thought.
'Now that I look closely upon them, doesn't it look like they're eating the driver. Or is it just my imagination.'
'It's not your imagination.' Lily said. 'Abnormals have the tendency of eating any kind of corpse. It doesn't matter who it belonged to as long as it had meat and bones.'
'So aren't they like scavengers in a sense?' I asked.
'There are. Except that if you go near them then they'll eat you too.'
'So. Three Abnormals. One at the frontseat. Two at the backseat. The driver is effectively 'dead' and won't be getting up again. I think that's good enough for my first scouting mission.' I thought and smiled.
'Hmph.' Lily snorted but didn't replied.
'I'll take that as a yes.' I slid back to the bushes and merged with the darkness.
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”Not bad.” Rahul said as I told him about the result from my scouting mission. ”But there are still a lot of things that you still need to learn.”
”First. Your positioning. You scouted them from the distance of 20 meters. But the Abnormals don't have a good eyesight and can only see at a 3-4 meter distance at night. You could have easily stayed 5 meters away from them and still remained unnoticed.”
”Second. Your smell. You forget to take that into consideration. Although low tier Abnormals don't have a highly sensitive nose, high tier ones and Mutant Beasts do. So next time, stay on the opposite direction of the wind.”
”Third. Lack of details. Just knowing that there are 3 Abnormals in the car and their position is not good enough to execute our mission.”
”Fourth…” After pointing out a dozen mistakes in the report which I'd considered to be perfect, Rahul finally stopped.
”Despite that. I think you did well for your first mission.” He said.
I could already sense the veins in the forehead bulging. It had been a genuine compliment. But a compliment given after pointing out a dozen mistakes in your work, makes it sound more like sarcasm then a compliment.
'Alright. Let's not think too much about it.' I thought and put the thing out of my mind.
”So. What are we going to do next.” I asked.
”The shriek of a newborn abnormal can usually travel up to a 100 meters or so. But after changing into an Abnormal, they lose some of their hearing ability. Thus, an abnormal will only be able to hear another's shriek at the distance of 50 meter.
”But their car has drifted off to a distance of more than 80 meters. At such a distance, they can be considered to be isolated from the horde in the highway. So we will attack them.” He said decisively. But then added something unexpected.
”But I can only take on two of them. You'll have to take care of the third one.”
”What? Me…” I was a bit shocked he I heard that.
I had no confidence in my abilities to fight against a man eating monster who had two times my strength. If something goes wrong then our team of two will really be in big trouble ah.
”Oi brother. I don't think I can…”
”Relax.” He cut me off and said. ”I know what you're thinking. Don't be so worried. I won't give you an impossible task. Let me tell you. This mission will be far easier than you can think. Do you know why that is?”
”Why?” I asked.
”Because they're trapped. They do not know how to open the door and the windows are only partially open so they won't be able to attack us at all.”
”And the one I'm asking you to deal with is even easier as it is wearing a seat belt. So, as long as you maintain a good distance from it and swing you Axe properly, you should not have any problem in killing it. Now do you understand.”
”Is that so.” Now I understood that my mission will be a bit easier then I had previously assumed.
I also understood what he meant when he talked about 'Lack of Details.'
We had both gone off to scout at the same time but he was able to learn far more things than me.
'But that's alright. I'm a fast learner. I won't stay behind him forever.' I consoled myself.
'I somehow doubt that.' Lily chimed in.
'Shut up twerp.' I said
'What did you call me?' she asked in rage.
'Twerp.' I replied nonchalantly.
'How dare you call me a…'
'Twerp twerp.'
'Anhhh. I won't talk to you anymore. Bye.' She said and went silent.
'What a feisty girl.'
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”Oi. Brother. Is it really necessary for me to wear these two blankets over me hands?” I said as I looked at the car in the distance.
”Yes. It's for your safety. Although a scratch from them won't kill you, it can still become infected and hamper your movements. So safety first.” He said. ”Now. You remember what you have to do, right?”
”Yes. Maintain a distance. Slice it's head.”
”Good. Just follow my lead and everything will be alright. Come now.” He said and started moving in the direction of the car with his axe.
I was feeling a bit panicky when I started following him. We were going to fight against Abnormals after all. I tried to calm my heart as he raise his speed by and bit and swung his axe at the unsuspecting Abnormal.
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