Chapter 247: Little Kitten

Chapter 247: Little Kitten

After a few hours of sleep, I wake up and stretch my body. Jumping from the bed, I take a few steps and enter the balcony, looking outside at the city. Virelia is unusually quiet, and the walls that used to surround it are gone, as well as dozens of buildings destroyed and a few towers have tilted or just straight up toppled.

Further in the distance, I can see the trunk of the Living Tree. Colossal, grayish bark, and branches without any leaves.

Defeated, destroyed, killed, just like that. All the preparations and planning gone and useless, the Calamity was defeated by Eris at the cost of her life.

I can't understand it fully; it's so dumb. So fucking dumb. She could have run away, she could have held it back and waited for me and others to join the fight. She could have just kept us in the city and not sent us after... but, that would mean sacrificing Sophie, Aaron, and Dennis, wouldn't it?

Looking down I clench and unclench my fist. If I were stronger, I would solve it all. I would be the one deciding the result, and no one would have to die. I wasn't strong enough, and it leaves a sour taste in my mouth, even though I know they are fake.

I wonder, could I have pushed myself more? Could I do it differently and focus more on leveling instead of improving my handling of my power? Could I have just left the tree alone and stopped the ants from kidnapping three members of our group and fought against the Calamity with Eris?

Taking a few steps, I jump back into the bed in the room Storm Brigade has lent me, Obelia has offered to board us until we can find another house.

Status, I say.

Name:Nathaniel Gwyn

Difficulty:Hell

Floor:4 - Waning Realm

Time left until forced return: 4y 81d 13h 15m 7s

Traits (1/3):Mana Circuit

Lvl 189

Strength: 87

Dexterity: 89

Constitution: 224

Mana (Stage 1/3 - Vast Mana): 707 + 707

Primary Class: Focused Channeler (Epic)

Sub-class:[Initiate of Pride]

Active skills:

Focus (Dual Focus Consolidation) - Lvl 41

Mana Manipulation (Advanced Mana Manipulation) - Lvl 41

Perception - Lvl 39

Redistribution (Symbiotic Transference) - Lvl 39

Resonance - Lvl 34

Mana Domain - Lvl 21

Tether - Lvl 11

Regalia - Lvl 10

Infusion - Lvl 16

Constructs:

Reinforcement (Construct)

Kinetic Mana Heart (Construct)

I think about it for a while, It might be just as you said.

Isabellas soft cries sound from inside the room, she seems to be having a nightmare as she twitches on the bed.

Sophie stands up and opens the door. Lilly finished restoring her legs a few hours after sacrificing my arm.

When I hand her Noodle, she looks at me one more time, The matriarch is dead. You know what that means, right?

I nod, The Colony will be coming.

Yes. I tried to kill as many of them as possible, especially the ones capable of creating arrays, and I even left some traps in their links. But it wont slow them down for too long. A few days maybe.

Isabella twitches again, and Sophie just waves and closes the door, immediately lying on the bed and hugging her sleeping sister, who quickly calms down.

Not wanting to interrupt their moment, I jump from the balcony and glide back to my room. There, I open the balcony and pass through my room, opening the door outside.

The hallway is empty and simple, mostly made of stone and wood with a thick carpet on the polished floor. It has a nice cozy feeling to it. Taking a short walk, I reach the door to the room where Tess is staying with Lily, the two of them are together so she can help our silly healer. I knock and wait.

Tess opens a few seconds later, Come in, Nat. She just lets me enter immediately.

The moment I do so, Lily sees me too, and a big smile appears on her face. I notice that one of her arms is already nearly back. The left one that is once again pale, and I would bet if she restores my left arm too, it will be pale as well.

The speed with which she is regenerating her arms is much faster than before. Guess who can enter Beyond now? she asks me, her smile becoming even bigger.

I can hear Tess sigh next to me, and I sit on the edge of the bed next to Lily.

This is serious; I can see it in her eyes. The moment she heals, she will enter Beyond. As always, her reason is simple: to reach me. To become closer to me, to be strong like me. To become more useful to me. That's how shes thinking.

Ever since the floor started, I havent heard her speak about her family, and Tess, who knew Lily just a little bit from school, told me that the black-haired girl was someone you might call a loner.

I wonder how her life was before for her to become so possessive of me, to cling to me and the others so much. To have such fear in her eyes that we will throw her away the moment we become much stronger or she becomes less useful. It doesn't matter how much Tess works on it, it doesnt matter that I tried to help too. Lily still lives in constant fear of being left behind.

Don't enter Beyond for now, I tell her.

She continues to smile for a moment, thinking that I'm joking, but I just look at her and slowly her expression changes from that of happiness to hurt and anger.

I move closer and put my hand on hers, I will train with you. I will help you prepare.

Lily might have the strongest damage skill out of all of us, and she is extremely hard to kill, but she is lacking when it comes to reading the flow of combat and over-relies on her damage and healing.

I squeeze her arm, I will make sure you become stronger.

The expression in her eyes changes a bit, hurt and sadness replaced by pleading and hope.

I want everyone to live, Lily, so we will prepare, okay?

Her eyes shake and she stares at me, taking in every detail of my face.

I continue, And when you are ready, you will crush the trial and join me and Tess.

Lily nods, Yes, yes. I will do it.

Flashback - Lily Chen - 8 years old

In a dark, small room, a little girl sits on a thin blanket. A little girl with black hair and bangs long enough to fall into her face.

"Are you angry, Grumpy?" the little girl asks, pulling the cat in her arms closer to her chest, "And don't meow, it makes you look even more like a grumpy," she says, smiling.

Meow. The little kitten tries to escape for a bit, but still being weak, is unable to do so and gives up.

That makes the little girl laugh for a bit longer as she snuggles the kitten with two differently colored eyes, yellow and blue, and with black fur.

Then silence fills the small room and the entire apartment.

It is around nine o'clock, and the girl is entirely alone, the floors cold, the power cut off, and tap water rarely flows. Something normal for the girl, too young to realize that it shouldn't be like that.

"We will be alone again tonight," she mumbles, holding the kitten tight.

Slowly she stands up from the floor, her feet are bare and her pajamas are old, dotted with holes. The little girl takes the thin blanket and moves away from the door where she has been waiting for someone to return, excited to talk about her day with the little kitten.

"Its fine, I have you, Grumpy," the little girl says, and after jumping on the bed, she wraps the blanket around them.

With a smile, she continues to watch as the kitten falls asleep. Then, even though there is no other blanket on her bed, she slips the blanket off of herself and wraps it all around Grumpy.

Feeling the cold, she continues to shake a bit, but the big smile doesn't leave her face as she continues to watch the little kitten sleep.