Chapter 15: A Human

"*Munch*, *munch* I never knew Boss Mo and the others tasted this delicious."

Allen Stryka was gobbling up the pieces of meat he had taken from the bandits. He had been observing them whenever they prepare for their meals. So he knew where they were keeping their provisions.

He could have escaped the bandits during the first evening. For someone who could circulate his element around his body, being tied-up was meaningless. But he decided to study how those humans operate when they travel in the apocalypse. He began taking notes on the differences between human travelling compared to that of the beasts.

The biggest difference was that the bandits did not know how to cultivate. They spent their evenings on sleeping and guarding duty rather than accumulating elemental energy to strengthen their foundations. This solidified his theory of the reason why human got in a disadvantage when the sun mutated.

"Thank you for the meal."

Allen clapped his hand in gratitude. To be honest, he would have never considered eating the meat extracted from the mutated rats that he spent time with.

But this was the apocalypse. There was no room for picky eaters in this place. He needed to replenish his energy if he wanted to survive.

"Please become my strength for the future."

He added solemnly. He must never forget to pay his respects. This was the least that he could do anyway.

Was it bad to eat in the evening?

Well technically yes. But that was before Allen had learned how to use his new skill.

The 'katcha' sound that he heard in his mind.

It actually signified the birth of a new ability! It was similar to a creature hatching from an egg. The regret he had felt during the death of Boss Mo and Boss Eni became the driving force for the new power to fully bloom.

Allen decided to call his second skill [Life Detection].

This was a passive skill that enables to user to perceive the energy signatures of creatures. Allen first suspected that what he was perceiving was the fire inside a living being. But after hearing the bandit leader before, he suspected that was not exactly the case. It was probably closer to the Soul energy present inside an individual.

Would this mean that Allen now had two elements within him?

Probably not. Soul energy was a form of energy anyway. And most forms of energy gave off heat. Heat that could then be attributed to fire elemental manipulation.

"Alright. I now have at least obtained the basic-level of knowledge in using this passive."

Allen nodded as he observed his surroundings. The first time that the ability was unlocked, too much information rushed inside his mind. The only reason why he did not collapse then and there was because he focused his thoughts on the bandit leader. But when he woke up, that was when the troubles occurred.

Good thing he learned how to cultivate. The accumulation of elemental energies on the surroundings had helped him ease the stress of receiving too much information. He then learned how to filter the details during the following evenings.

That was another reason why he decided to stay with the bandits for a while. They had unknowingly protected him as he trained on his new ability.

It was also fortunate that the skill had a passive-type of effect. This meant that the skill did not have any activation sequences. Since it was always in-effect. This made the training of this skill harder to notice.

He just had to ignore the thin bandit and the rest of the group when they made fun of him. He was busy on stabilizing his new skill. Why would he bother with their taunts when he had better things to do?

But then the bandit leader decided to sell him off. Allen could have actually waited a few more days before escaping. But chose to do it this evening instead. For all he knew, the bandit leader would change his mind once again.

He had also thought that he overstayed his welcome anyway. He had to escape those bandits so that he could resume his muscle training after all. Being carried all day by those two bandits might be rough but it was also convenient. In fact, it was too convenient that Allen might actually get used to such pampering and end up joining the bandits.

"Too bad I only have three years left though."

Allen smiled wryly. He was not talking about his personal condition though. During the periods where [Life Detection] was still unstable, Allen was able to have a glimpse of the condition of the planet. Yes, such information was available for the young man. But it caused huge headaches and depleted his energy reserves quickly. It was only a glimpse but the cost was enormous.

Nonetheless it had provided him with a crucial information. The lifeforce of the planet was dwindling. On his estimates, the world would only last for around three years.

The cause was definitely the mutated sun. The malevolent radiation had oversaturated the core of the world.

"I have to get stronger by then. Strong enough to destroy the sun!"

Allen clenched his fist with a renewed resolve. He was planning of achieving this goal in the first place. Knowing that he had to accomplished this under a time limit had only ignited his competitive spirit.

But then his contemplation was suddenly interrupted.

Kree! Kree! Kree!

Allen noticed the presence of mutated bats. A large horde was heading towards a certain direction. With the help of [Life Detection], he was able to determine their target.

"They're after the bandits!"

Allen concluded. He felt conflicted by this situation.

Where were these beasts when he was still in captivity? Did they not know that he could use their attack as a distraction to escape from the bandits? Why did they show up only when he had already ran away? Were they actually waiting for him to leave before they attack? Were they making fun of him?

Nonetheless Allen ran forward.

***

"Ahhh! Ahhh!"

"Boss help me! Help!"

"Arrggh!"

The bandits were trying to fight off the large horde of mutated bats. But such number of beasts were hard to fend off. They were also flying freely in the air. This made targeting them more difficult.

"Stop resisting you idiots!"

Allen shouted at the panicking bandits. He was running towards the group who was engaged in combat. He noticed that three of them were already lost.

The thin bandit saw his arrival. He then took a stance. It could be detected that he was about to manifest his wind element towards the new target. He then shouted,

"You! You caused this! How dare you sell us off to these bats."

"Shut up, I have no time for you!"

Allen shouted back. He then looked towards the direction of the bald bandit. He was the one he wanted to talk to after all. He ordered,

"Old man, use your earth element!"

"I'm not old!"

"Then use your ability."

"I already am!"

Allen rolled his eyes. He wanted to voice out that the bald bandit was doing things wrongly. But he no longer had time for that. He simplified his command and shouted,

"Not for attacking! Set-up a fence of some sort."

"What will that achieve?"

"Just do it already!"

Another bandit had lost his lifeforce. The young man regretted the loss. But he could not dwell on that matter any longer. He raised his guard up to protect himself.

The bald bandit fell silent. He seemed to consider the order he received. However, the thin bandit interrupted,

"Boss don't believe this creep! He 'served' the rats. For all we know, he's 'serving' these bats as well!"

"Enough of you already!"

BAM!

Allen no longer had time to argue. Since he jumped in to save the bandits, the mutated bats were also targeting him now. He punched the thin but tall bandit. This knocked the latter unconscious.

The young man caught the bandit and threw him towards the bandit leader. He then spat out,

"Do it. Now!"

The bald bandit seemed to be grinding his teeth. He was still conflicted. After a few seconds,

"[Earth Spike]!"

Four pillar-like constructs emerged from the ground. They extended in an angle as they intersected at one point. This resulted into a make-shift dome.

Allen ordered the remaining bandits to go under the dome. But since there were only four of those pillars, the bats had followed them inside.

"Can't you make more of these spikes?"

"Four is my limit."

Alllen winced when heard the reply. They needed more constructs to block the incoming bats. He also noticed that the spikes were not even as sturdy as the earthen armor of Boss Mayni. He then tried to remember what the three mutated rats did to ease up the onslaught of the bats. He then said,

"Sit down and stop struggling. The bats might bite or scratch you but do not fight back."

The young man closed his eyes and began accumulating elemental energy from the surroundings. He could feel the attacks of the bats in his body. But he remained unmoving.

Around thirty minutes had passed. The bats were no longer paying attention on Allen but he could still detect their presence around the area. He also noticed that two more bandits were now missing.

Around one hour had passed. The bats were still around. However the number of bandits no longer decreased. The bandits were perhaps struggling a little but at least they were not resisting that much anymore.

Two hours had passed. The bats were circling around the make-shift dome. Allen could not help but scold the bandits to stop staring at the bats in the sky.

Three hours passed. The mutated bats began to fly away. Allen opened his eyes and observed that it was already daybreak. He saw that there were only five bandits remaining. The bald leader, the thin bandit, and three more lackeys.

The young man sighed. There was no chance that he could save everyone after all. He took this as a proof that he had more to improve in the future. He then said,

"I guess we're safe now."

"You think?"

"It's better than all of you dying right?"

"You sound confident that you could survive."

"Maybe."

Allen rose up. He no longer had any reason to entertain the doubts of the bandit leader. He had already helped them as much as he could. Whatever they think or do afterwards was no longer his concern. He then started to walk away.

"Kid! Wait up."

The bandit leader called him out. This made the young man stop. He looked at the bald bandit who approached him. The latter then continued,

"Why?"

"?"

"Why did you save us? You could have just let us perish. That is a valid choice after all."

Indeed. The choice of leaving the bandits to fend for their own was an option. But the young man never considered this. He answered,

"Don't be mistaken. I did not save you. I saved myself."

Become someone with an indomitable heart.

Those were the words that Allen had engraved in his mind. If he wanted to get stronger, he needed to become someone who was true to himself.

He was not someone who would forgive people who wronged him easily. But that did not mean that he would just let lives be extinguished in front of him. Especially if he could do something about it.

He wanted flames that could destroy the sun. In order to do so, he should never betray his beliefs. Thus he had to accept the good, the bad, and everything in between in this world. That was the only way he could ignite a power that would never betray him.

The bandit leader was left confused. He seemed like he was still unable to process the reason behind the act. He then inquired,

"Is it because we're fellow humans?"

"No. It's because I am a human."

It did not matter if the one in trouble was a human or a beast. What mattered was that Allen was willing to help whomever was on need.

The young man was about to walk away. But the bandit leader stopped him once again. He then raised his left hand. He was pointing at a certain direction. He then said,

"That way leads to Nosales."

He was biting his lips. Perhaps giving away such information for free was difficult for him. He then added,

"May we never meet again."

"May we never meet again."

Allen nodded. He then took the path that he had chosen.