Chapter 15: A Brether for the Broken

It was the equivalent of dusk in the small cave ecosystem, the red fungi had stopped glowing furiously, and the cave was somewhat in darkness as now both sides of the lake had nothing but the reflections of the far away mushroom luminescence to light it up.

Just when the fight got to a point where neither Jack nor the scorpion could be seen by Laura due to both being completely submerged, it was over, an overwhelming pressure came from the water and all she could see were two blades of water shooting upward from the dark patch of water where the beast's body could be hazily seen.

Then blood, massive amounts of it, spread through the surrounding water, and she prayed that it was over.

Concurrently, Jack was just floating underwater, no strength left to move, pain was the only thing that could be felt, but only in the physical sense as in his mind he felt at ease. ''Somehow that was one third of my promise kept, Silva... Now I have to kill the other one and take care of your child, I guess.''

While the blood of the fallen spread around Jack, he could feel himself absorbing it and gaining a massive amount of power, yet he was still badly wounded and recovery would take time. Our hero had a ghastly wound on his side and broken bones all over, the fight was in no way easy, but it had paid off.

Despite the worry of Laura above the surface, he decided on staying underwater some more, absorbing as much blood as he could. Using his control over water, Jack used the last bits of energy he had left with what he had got from the blood he was already in contact with to pull the vital essence from all round him.

Unbeknownst to him, another being was benefiting from his blood absorption, and that was the egg that was with him. The water and highly potent blood stirred something deep within it.

Laura, on the other hand, was starting to get worried about her companion, he had only surfaced for air once in the entire fight after all.

''Is he drowning? He has to be after fighting for so long underwater.'' She thought, but this time something was different, her own instincts were telling her that he would survive.

She saw him use water powers, so she assumed it would keep him from drowning. However, if he's unconscious, it's possible that's not the case.

Making up her mind, she wrapped some vines to tie up the raft to her and went in the water after him. Swimming to the dark patch where the monster was and diving.

In contrast to what she expected to see, or feel underwater, a refreshing wave of energy passed thought her and there he was.

Still very much alive, with streams of blood leaving the corpse and heading straight to Jack. He still had a horn and markings on one of his eyes that were closed and right in front of his chest an egg was floating and absorbing the blood with him.

Understanding nothing of the situation but seeing as he was still alive, partially conscious and controlling the flow of water, she assumed he was fine and recovering from the harrowing battle.

Thanks to this, Laura could go back up to the surface with a clear consciousness.

There she stood and waited atop the raft for almost an hour when Jack finally opened his eyes. When he did so, he felt much better, still in extreme pain, but with no fear of death, and he also noticed the egg pulsating in front of him after the both of them finished absorbing most of the fallen's blood.

''Had your fill, buddy?'' He thought and almost as if responding it shook a bit. ''Guess that's a yes, then.'' Jack was wondering when the egg will hatch as he sensed the vast amounts of natural energy emanating from it.

''Alright, let's go because I probably have some stuff to explain to Laura.'' He thought while willing to water to gently carry him upwards and putting the egg away in his bag.

When he broke the water surface, even the surface tension made it hard for him to not feel all the pain in his body, his muscles burned, absorbing the blood had somewhat mended his bones but they were still fragile and sore.

Laura helped to get him out of the water and into the raft, where they both laid down for a few minutes, resting, before she noticed his appearance was back to normal. She wanted to ask him about it but decided that was a conversation they would have later as it was safer to peddle to the shore and rest in front of the cave they had decided to go in.

Though in reality, Laura did all the pedaling due to how injured Jack was. ''Hey Laura...'' he muttered laying down while she peddled, she could tell what he was saying due to her increased field of view. ''I apologize for troubling you, but I had hoped it wouldn't have come to this, as it was more of a plan c of sorts. I'll explain as much as I can after some good rest.'' She looked at him, nodded and went back to pedaling.

Eventually, they reached the other side of the lake where the cave path was. And it was surprising to both that the cave was much bigger than it looked like from afar.

They were a little concerned about it, so they decided to set up camp farther from the entrance, where they would be exposed to danger. A small path could be seen to the sides of the entrance as it circled around the lake, and Jack couldn't help but wonder why his instincts or Silva's memories didn't lead him to it, maybe it hid its own dangers.

''Oh well, what's done is done, and we survived. Maybe it was my instincts telling me to not stray too far from the water.''

Time passed, and before any more exploration could go on, Laura tended to Jack's wounds lit a small fire and cooked some of the meat she and him had taken from the monsters.

He was healing surprisingly fast thanks to the scorpions blood he had absorbed, both were exhausted and took turns sleeping.

When it was Jack's turn to keep watch, he took the time to look at his status screen once more.

[Jack Fortune (?)]

[Awakened Blooded **]

[Inherent Trait: @#$$&@! Realization Progress: 11%]

[Skills:]

[Inherent Skill: *%#)(% - Mastery Progress: 0.3% (Restrained due to Difficulty)]

[Supernatural Instincts - Mastery Progress: 2% (Evolved from Monstrous Instincts)]

[Dangerous Imoogi Physique - Mastery Progress 5% (Evolved from Monstrous Physique)]

[Uncertain Swordsmanship - Mastery Progress: 33% (Obtained Due to Skill @#$$&@!)]

[Guardian of Nature (New!) - Mastery Progress: 30% (Obtained due to Transfer)]

He was somewhat bummed due to the low speed of progress from both of his most important tools, but his mood quickly turned better when he checked out the descriptions of both of his evolved skills.

[Supernatural Instincts - Mastery Progress: 2% (Evolved from Monstrous Instincts)]

[Description: Your instincts have surpassed the order of the natural world, you can sense things you'd have no way of knowing, hear the voice of nature speaking to you as an equal, and adapt faster. It is a part of you, and it will guide you faster and more safely (most of the time) than before. Let it lead you to the apex of nature, as it has done in many ways before.]

''Okay, this one isn't that much of a difference, but just the fact that I can more accurately predict what kind of power my sword will have is already a great bonus.''

[Dangerous Imoogi Physique - Mastery Progress 5% (Evolved from Monstrous Physique)]

[Description: Legend has it that once, very long ago, a snake became so powerful and found so many opportunities, it evolved, coming close to becoming an actual dragon. Combat, survival, and adaptation become second nature to your almost unbreakable body, keep evolving, and some day you might also grow wings and fly. But for now, the water is your ally, you shall become stronger and faster, and you will have no problem living in it, as a matter of fact, it is the optimal place for you to be. For now, you are just a danger-rated Imoogi, work hard to evolve and reach the cataclysm level to further the evolution. Acquired by going through an evolution of the physique while in the water and with trace amounts of dragon aura in the body.]

''Did I just gain an actual monster classification and species? This is beyond broken and confusing because I'm now both an awakened and a monster at the same time, rather than just an awakened with a monster's physique!''

Jack was grinning from ear to ear because he was now progressing in two separate power systems at the same time. That alone would provide a significant advantage in strength when compared to other blooded. Given that he survives returning to human civilization, of course.

After a few hours of peaceful rest for both of them, Laura woke up, and it was time for some explanations. She got up and stared at him until he noticed her and got close.

''S-So...'' he started. ''I guess I should start by clarifying a few things, like that skill I told you about, the one that boosted my physical body. Well, that isn't all it does, as it also gives me quite a few advantages on water, and the reason I didn't tell you before was because even I was unsure of what would happen. Even I don't know exactly why that horn showed up.'' He tried to dance around the topic a bit, but Laura was gazing at him in a way that reminded him of what Anna did when she knew he was lying.

The thought saddened him a little, but he continued.

''Anyway, I should've been more open and told you about my affinity with water. I'm sorry...''

She nodded, knowing full well that what he said wasn't the whole truth, but that he would open up and explain things better in time. Laura herself had secrets, so she wasn't about to judge him for keeping his to himself.

What she was mad about was him not taking advantage of it and worrying what her reaction to him would be. Which she stated in writing on the soft mud on the ground.

''Yeah, sorry again, even I was not sure how much of a boost I would get underwater as it was my first time entering it. Next time I'll prioritize our safety.''

Then she went on to write about what she was truly curious about. ''What about that egg?''

Jack was a bit shaken by the sudden question, not remembering her seeing it, but guessing that she had dove after him when he was taking too long to resurface and had seen it there. It made him somewhat happy to think that, as it meant she was willing to dive into unknown waters for him.

He sighed. "That I got in a strange opportunity that day when I went scouting; it wasn't free, but I can guarantee it won't harm us when it's born. It isn't in its nature to do unnecessary violence, and that I know from observing its parent.''

Laura still couldn't wrap her head around the kind of encounter Jack had that day. Especially for coming back with a monster egg and information on the forest. But if he could confidently guarantee that it would help and not hinder them, she wasn't about to suddenly lose her trust in him.

Therefore, she ended their chat by writing in a playful tone: ''I'd appreciate if you could be more direct if something that influential happened. And if you could leave some opportunities for me too, that would be great!''

He laughed at her sly response and nodded.

It was about high noon by now, just in time for them to take their next step forward to safety, but right when they were getting ready to go in the cave, a sound came from it. The sound of angry, ferocious chirping.

Immediately Jack grabbed Laura's hand and dragged her to the side of the cave entrance where there was some native vegetation to hid in, their feet were wet in lake water again, but little did it matter as the cave trembled slightly.

From inside came the only thing they wished to pospone seeing again, the other fallen lord of the mushroom forest, the gigantic red bird.