Jer Patch
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Chapter 52: Caught Red Handed
🕑 Added 2025-04-09 14:00:04 +0000 UTCMary stood next to my father, both of them staring up at me.
I waved.
“I’ll be down in a moment,” I shouted down to them, before turning back to the cliff face.
I yanked the crystal off my wrist and shaped the sharpened flat edge into more of a point. Then, I approached the crack. Inside grew three air crystals, two the size of a softball and one the size of a golf ball.
Carefully I used the superheated tip to cut each of them free before setting them at my feet. Once that was done, I returned the bracelet to its shape before yanking my backpack out and loading the crystals inside.
I tightened the straps on it before turning to climb down the cliff face. Going down took longer than going up, even with my movement skill.
Eventually, I made it to the bottom to find my father still standing there staring at me. Mary was nowhere in sight.
“Mary headed back to camp,” he explained as I glanced around. “Why are you outside of camp?”
“Ah, that's good, she didn’t need to wait around. Noseen wanted me to check this area out and gain a few additional levels before the quest.” I headed to the carcass to get my spear and tooth back. I shrugged my backpack off and set it carefully on the ground. The tooth was easy to find, since the dead filer lay on its back and it only had one hole in its chest. I reached in and pulled it out without even flinching.
I could feel my father's eyes on me as I marched around the Ptero’s head, feeling under it for the spear shaft. My fingers touched the cool metal-like surface, and I mentally retracted it to the knife shape. It easily pulled free once shortened.
“You said you had much you needed to talk to me about before you teleported away,” said my father.
“I do, and this is part of that.” I moved back to the chest of the carcass, cutting in shallowly where I thought the heart was located. “Did Hammy talk to you at all about my class?”
“No.” His head tilted to one side, eyebrows drawing together as he used Insight on me. “And I can’t see it, only your risk level. I’m assuming that’s because you leveled again.”
“I hit level 42 with this fight, but that’s not what I wanted to talk about.” I said as I cut through its rib bones and found my treat, its heart. “So, my class is Devourer. Basically, after I kill things, I eat parts of them to regain my energy. If I eat a heart, or enough non-heart, of something, I can gain additional things from it, like skills or extra stat points.”
“So you’re going to eat that?” he asked, his face completely blank as his eyes flicked from me to the heart.
“Yes.” I turned slightly away and took a bite out of it. It only took two more before it was completely gone.
[You have devoured Pterodactyl and gained two stat points in Flexibility.]
“I just gained two points in flexibility.” I wiped my mouth. “So, that’s my big secret.”
He didn’t say anything for a couple of moments.
“Flexibility isn’t a stat,” he answered. “Dexterity is.”
“I have different stats from most people.” I wondered if there was a way to show my stat sheet to my father. A notification popped up asking if I wanted to share it. I sent it over without a problem. Then I took out my canteen and took a few sips of water before I cleaned my hands and face.
“I see why you wanted to keep this to yourself,” he said, letting out a sigh and running a hand along his chin. “I should have taught to you become a close combat specialist.”
I laughed, really laughed at that. It took me a little bit to get a hold of myself, feeling a lot less tense.
Thinking back on the fight I realized how sharp both my tooth and the crystal tip had seemed as they cut into the creature. That minor increase in damage had already helped.
“A little late now, though I tend to fight up close and personal, so I suppose in my way I am a close combat specialist. That option popped up during class selection, but I went for the legendary class instead.”
This time he chuckled, though not like I had.
“There’s one more thing,” I said, not knowing how to explain this part. “I guess Devourers are a big deal, and a lot of people don’t like them. A long while ago there was a giant war, with them on one side and most of the rest of the System Universe on the other. It was after a cleansing, of sorts, where Devourer’s had been hunted down. The ones that were left struck back, but there still aren’t very many others around. It’s why I trust Noseen. He’s also a Devourer.”
“No matter how far we travel, everything always leads back to history, even if we aren’t part of it,” he said softly, almost resigned. “I’ll ask Noseen to explain the next time he’s around. We should get back to camp. It won’t be long before we need to lift off. You’re doing good, Sprout.”
I almost said something, but stopped. I really hated that nickname.
He led the way back toward camp, hiking faster than I had on my way out here.
The camp was a mess by the time we showed up. The sun wasn’t even up yet, but the tents were packed up and everything else was in piles.
Dengu stood at the edge of the crystals, head pointed in our direction. He chirped as we came into view, but he didn’t pass the crystals to greet us.
“Hey buddy,” I said, approaching him with a smile.
“Good hunt?” he asked.
“Yes, it was.”
“The lone ranger appears,” said Cass as she approached, along with Lenna.
I smirked and jiggled my bag. “I got something that Sang’s gonna wanna check out.”
“I don’t know, she’s still pouring over that green stone you gave Benny. He finally handed it over to her and told her not to break it.”
“Hey, that is a work of art.”
“What’d you kill?” asked Lenna, using Insight on me.
“Just a flier. The extra levels will help with the quest.”
“Listen up,” hollered Benny, making most people pause what they were doing. “We’re going to start to remove the crystal boundary, so get a move on. John wants to be in the air within fifteen minutes.”
Hawk, Denver, and Jimmy all took positions around the outside of camp. My father shot me a look and joined them.
“We’re packed and ready to go,” said Cass.
“Cool, then onto the shuttle?”
Both nodded, and we headed in that direction. Dengu trailed behind us.
Right on time, the shuttle lifted off fifteen minutes later, just as the early rays of dawn broke over the far mountains.
The pull for the quest marker directed me to the southwest. Again, I stood up front near John’s seat.
“Hey, do you know where you’re going?” I asked.
“Noseen gave me some directions and landmarks to check out, along with a place to land.”
“How long will it take?”
“All day, then we’ll land where he recommended on the far outskirts of their territory.”
“So, two more days before the fight.”
John glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, but didn’t say anything.
I sat down behind his chair, and caught Sang staring at my bag on the floor.
“I heard you have a different type of crystal in that bag,” she said, her tone accusatory. I glared at Mary, who innocently glanced away.
“I might, if you’re ready to check them out. Or did you want to ask questions first?”
Sang’s lips tightened for a moment before she responded. “Questions, then I want to see the new goodies.”
The rest of the day passed super slowly. I only took a break from answering Sang’s questions to level up my stats with the free points I had. I put 10 into Quickness, 5 in Toughness, and 2 into Strength. After a few more hours, to make sure I didn’t get hit with growth shock, I put 10 more into Quickness, to bring it up to an even 200.
Name: Alex
Level: 42
Race: Human
Traits: Survivability, Adaptation, Hangry
Class: Devourer, level 42
Profession: Crystal Singer, level 20
Stats:
STR: 136(146)
QUICK - I: 172(200)
FLEX: 161(171)
TOUGH: 147(160)
INT: 150(158)
FORT: 150(158)
WILL: 150(158)
CHA: 110(118)
FREE: 0
Monstrosity: 6%
Titles & Achievements:
Jack-of-all-Trades
Lucky Stars
Badass
Tenacious
Songweaver
Skill: 10/10
Adaptive Body - I
Crystal Singing and Attunement - II
Insight - I
Augmented Senses
Stealthy Camouflage
Blades and Polearms
Free Spirit
Venomous Chomp - II
Tensile Claw Strike
Field Dressing
Skills Categories: Condensed
My progress felt good, especially hitting 200 in Quickness. I couldn’t wait to see how fast I’d move once we got off the shuttle.
The landing went very similar to before, except this time I felt the pull of the quest marker much more intensely. The beast was that much closer.
Everyone worked together to set up camp, including Dengu, who paced inside the perimeter. Lenna, surprisingly, helped Cass set up the canvas tents, while Abby got the fire going.
I patrolled with Hammy and Randy, along the outside of the crystal perimeter.
“You have a new weapon…” I said to Hammy. He carried a smaller version of the rifle my father did.
“Yes, I asked if I could borrow his and quickly found out how awesome my profession is. Duplicating something already created is easy for me.” Hammy pointed to the gun on the nose of the shuttle as we walked around it. “I built that with John. We have another prototype in-process which we should finish tonight.”
Randy stayed silent, his eyes darting all around.
“You okay?” I asked, noting how quiet he was.
“You guys are pretty chill for being on patrol.”
“I don’t sense anything out there, and the quest beast is farther away. Nothing close in level would be in its territory.” I felt bad as I spoke, because it was clear he was scared.
“Don’t worry, Alex is a badass,” said Hammy, nudging me. “You’ll see tomorrow.”
“I don’t know about that,” I muttered. “I think some people are going to stay behind.”
Randy didn’t say anything in response, and it felt like a gulf appeared between us. One I didn’t know how to cross.
“Hey, Alex!” called Hawk as we walked by. He waved me to come over.
I nodded at Hammy and trotted over to him, Denver, and my father. Jimmy left the group to join Hammy.
“Anything out there?” asked Hawk, surprising me.
“Nope, nothing that's prey for a good amount of distance,” I said with a grin.
“So, tomorrow,” started my father. “Hawk says you are great at stealth. Are you planning on scoping it out?”
“I might head out tonight, actually. I want to reach its lair right around dawn. That transition to daylight will make it hard for the creature to see.”
All of them nodded.
“John,” started Hawk, “can drop a group of us close, we just need you to mark a good place for us to land.”
“On my way out there I’ll find a nice tall tree and strap something to it,” I said, thinking of a way to signal them. Cell phones would be amazing, but this world didn’t have anything like that.
Denver pulled out some bright red leather and held it up.
“That will work,” I added, yanking it into my inventory crystal.
“We will be ground backup, along with Hammy,” said Hawk. “John’s gonna do a fly-by just after dawn, so he’s aerial support.”
“What about everyone else?” I asked, looking around the camp. That wasn’t nearly everyone on the shuttle, which made me happy. I didn’t want a crowd watching me fight.
“The hunters, plus Jimmy, Lenna, and Dengu, will protect this camp,” said Hawk. “Oh, and Maggie.”
“It’s splitting us up,” said Denver, with a frown. “But it will cover everyone, and keep as many people safe as we can.”
“Don’t forget me,” said Doc, joining the conversation. “I have a few surprises up my sleeve if needed. I’ll be in the shuttle with you all.”
Hawk and my father both gave Doc a look. A look that spoke volumes, in their silence.
“What? I’m stable, and I have a few bombs that could help!”
This was going to go so wrong. I couldn’t help but grin.
