Chapter 6

TARA

I knew something weird happened when I woke up, I felt all kinds of weird pressure waves in the air. My ears started popping and it felt generally uncomfortable. It was similar to the feeling when the snapping turtle came for me, so I got nervous. What if something like that happens again? I can't always rely on Eli to protect me. I slowly lifted the top of the hideout and looked in the direction of the weird wind.

There I saw Eli, in the air, spinning and laughing like a maniac. I felt a smile creep up my face, as I watched him goof off with his new power. So, the crystal had this skill in it huh? It didn't look that powerful, but it absolutely seemed like a fun time.

"Oh hey, you're awake! Sorry, did I wake you?" He shouted down from the canopy he was swimming nearby.

"No, I just felt the pressure waves and got scared that those fish are back or something."

He started floating down, and he looked so natural like this, like he's been flying his whole life until now. He plopped down silently next to me and the empty fire pit.

"It's just yours truly, don't worry. Oh wow, I am dizzy." He suddenly leaned back and lay on the ground. "This is an awesome skill. And super versatile as well!" he proclaimed after catching his breath.

"Really? I mean it looks fun, but is it actually useful aside from floating?" I asked, skeptical.

"Well, if you think it's only about floating, it would probably be boring. But that too, if it altered my weight or something, I could make a weapon out of that as well. This is much better than that though." I looked at him with a raised eyebrow and waited for him to continue. "Okay one sec, let me get up. Alright. Ready? Try punching my hand with your full force."

We were standing opposite to each other, and he held up his right hand into a palm, as a target for me to hit. Well, this will be at least good practice for my new arm. I poured a bunch of xin into my arm, bones and muscles to strengthen them and swung it back. In the last moment, I used a bit of fire magic, from my elbow, to propel it and accelerate it even more than my muscles were capable of. It was a solid, brutal hit. I could break his arm if this doesn't work.

I got a bit scared, but his confident smile gave me silent permission to go all out. My strengthened fist came down like a hammer, but instead of an explosive collision, it decelerated rapidly, as when I got closer and closer to his hand, the air pressure increased drastically. I fought it, but at a point it felt like I was trying to push a solid brick wall. The air completely absorbed all the force of the impact, and I was left with my puny elbow flame thruster desperately trying to push further.

It was all in vain. I couldn't penetrate it; I didn't even get to his hand. I was confident in my fighting capabilities, so this was baffling. I knew he was strong, but to have the brains to develop a shield this capable in a single night with a completely random skill? This guy was amazing. I was relieved now; I knew I found a hidden gem. He will be very useful, crucial even.

"This is pretty amazing. How are you doing it?" I asked him, and just noticed the cold sweat dripping down his forehead.

"Well, this skill isn't about floating, it's about changing the density of the air around you. If you're surrounded by dense air, the buoyancy force will simply lift you up. Which is cool, but you can do so much more than that. Unfortunately, the range is very limited, so if you want to fly with me, you'll have to sit on my back or something." He changed so much in a single month, his smile was full of confidence somehow, like he finally found his place after a long search.

"I appreciate the offer, but I'm fine." I returned his smile, and we chatted for a bit. I felt much better now, and my arm was amazing, even if I needed to build those xin veins back up. My crystal was also almost full, thanks to the one he gave me yesterday.

But for some reason I felt a weird pressure, anxiety seeped into me slowly. What is this? Am I afraid of something? There is nothing nearby, I checked recently. Only Eli and I are here, and he couldn't be… Oh wait. I quickly went into a basic xin sight form and looked at him. It was loke looking at the sun. I winced, closed my eyes quickly, and when that didn't work, I turned away and started panting. There was an intense pressure radiating from him, and it overwhelmed me, even though it should've been impossible.

"Hey… You're leaking again. Please stop it…" My breathing grew heavy, and my vision darkened. I immediately stopped the xin sight, but the pressure only slowly subsided.

"Huh? Oh yeah, you're right. Jesus! This much? Sorry!" He started meditating like I showed him what seems like ages ago, and it got almost instantly better. "I guess after I upgraded my crystal it leaks a ton more now. And I was getting good at suppressing it too. Bummer."

"Yeah, but this pressure was insane." I answered after finally catching my breath. He eventually got it mostly under control, but he was still leaking more than when we met. Which was a problem. It didn't affect me now, but any other person in the vicinity would be too shocked to even stand straight. "We need to do something about this, and fast." I told him finally.

"Do you have something in mind? I'm okay with meditating all day, but it would be a bit boring. But now when I'm not meditating it empties out fast. But somehow it feels like a small amount, which is weird. I'm letting out way too much compared to how much was in the turtle's crystal."

"Well, when you're absorbing it, you get a bit more out than what's in originally. I guess you got much more. And yes, I do have a plan but… I don't like it."

"How come?" He asked with a concerned face.

"We'll have to visit an old acquaintance, and she's a bit too intense. But that's not important. It's not that bad if you're willing to pay for her services." I said, repulsed by the thought of seeing "her" again.

"Price? That sounds ominous."

"You don't have to worry, I'll figure something out. Although we should hurry, with this dense xin in the air here, who knows what kinds of creatures are hunting us already."

"Alright. Where to?" He started pouring his immense xin into his muscles and they almost crackled with electricity from the wild power.

"Wait… How fast can you run like that?" I asked, a bit worried I actually wouldn't be able to keep up.

"I don't know exact numbers. Pretty fast I guess?"

"Alright then. I'll show the way." I started augmenting my own body, and I felt the comfortable xin layer creeping into my bones and down my legs. This buzzing feeling of power never gets old. I wonder how it feels for him.

When we got ready, I started running, and recalled the location of where we were going. It wasn't that far actually, about a week of walking, but we will be there in two if we run augmented like this. The body tires much slower when it consumes xin instead of working the muscles, so we'll be able to cover more ground. I usually conserve my xin, so I'll walk instead, but we needed to get there relatively fast. I was a bit concerned, emptying my reserves for this, but it would be much worse if a monster showed up and demolished us.

When I got to full speed, I saw Eli running beside me with a confused look. If you don't know how to augment your body, this speed will leave you gasping for air, it was hard to follow with the naked eye. But I guess this was still slow for this monster of a man.

"Sorry, this is my max speed!" I shouted to him in the howling wind. His face took on a surprised and apologetic half-smile, knowing I read his mind.

"No, it's good, a month ago I couldn't even see where you were going it seemed so fast." He spoke in a weird, sped up way. Did he accelerate his brain as well? Is there something this man can't do?

We ran for a couple hours when I saw something in the edge of my eye. I signaled to Eli, and we slid to a sudden stop. We hid behind a boulder, as the terrain was still rocky and mountainous. There, in the distance, there was a fight. it wasn't uncommon to see beasts go at it, but this one seemed different.

A few hundred meters in front, there was what looked like a group of jellyfish, getting attacked by a massive bear. It had two heads and was at least 8 meters tall. It smacked one of the jellyfish, and it splattered pink translucent goo everywhere. The jellies all floated in the same manner as every fish on land, with a barrier of hardened air around them, which was a natural protective shield for all of them. However, it did not matter to the bear, as he swung his massive paws and killed them one after the other.

"They aren't even fighting back… He will kill all of them." Eli whispered next to me.

"Well, jellies usually are friendly and they only eat bugs and things. They are prey."

"If it looks like I'm losing, start running full speed, I'll catch up with you." He said to me with full determination.

"What? Don't tell me you're planning on…" But he was already gone, jumped from our cover and ran straight for the bear.

ELI

My body was still augmented so the jump I took from behind the boulder covered almost half the distance to the bear. I was ready for a fight. Jellyfish were always my favorite animal, and these were swimming in the air, not to mention beautiful. A soft pink bell, and rainbow colored gonads shone from the inside. I hate bullies and to hurt such magnificent creatures… Unforgivable. I know I hunt for food as well, but I needed to do that to survive. Please forgive me, mother nature.

I released the restraints from my crystal with a sigh of relief and pushed more xin into my body, into every part. It was still a bit slow to my liking, but much faster when I first tried it. When my leaking xin, at this point, a tsunami, not a wave of pure energy, reached the bear, it suddenly stopped and looked at me.

Just in time for it to find himself just in front of my fist, that came toward him like a bullet. This was even more powerful than when I fought the snapping turtle, and I heard its skull cracking under the pressure.

I flew back from the impact as well, and it let out a deafening roar. Leaping toward me, with its front paw ready for a smack, I put up a barrier of condensed air. It needed a bit of time, which I didn't have, and it could only slow down the paw until it smashed into my left hand. I felt and heard a loud crack, which was a bad sign. I dialed up my augmentation to eleven and kicked a paw it was standing on. It immediately broke with a stomach churning snap, and the beast buckled under its own weight, hitting its head hard on the hard ground.

Regaining my balance from my kick, I went back and started punching its head with all my force. After a few smacks and failed attempts at getting up, its roars subsided and finally caved in. Its skull was a disgusting paste of broken shards of bone, smashed brain and trickling blood. It was my first time fighting when I actually thought I would throw up.

I staggered back and sat down on the floor, catching my breath. The adrenaline was draining from my system, and slowly the pain from my left arm intensified. I looked at the jellyfish, it was slowly coming towards me and the massive beast's remains. I don't know if it had eyes, but it seemed to look at the corpse, checking if it really died. After confirming, it turned to me and came forward.

Raising one of its many tentacles in my direction, it waited for something. Should I like, shake it or something? I slowly lifted my finger and touched the tentacle. A quiet zapping sound followed a shiver that propagated through my finger, into my hands, up my arm, spine and into my head. A vibrating feeling ran through my brain in an instant, so fast I couldn't even pull my hand away in time. I was frightened, but for some reason this brain shiver felt comforting. I stepped back a few steps and put my hand on my head.

<Thank you for saving me. Sorry if that felt uncomfortable, I just connected with your brain.> A voice suddenly came from what felt like inside my own skull. It felt strange and uncomfortable. It was the jellyfish talking to me through my own thoughts.

"You can speak?" I asked it, flabbergasted.

<Not as much as speaking, rather sending messages to your brain. I made a connection so I could thank you, but I can sever it if you want.> It sounded like my own voice, mixed in with some other, subtle layers of different sounds.

Tara was now out as well from the cover, and she was walking toward us.

"You seem like the most intelligent beast that I encountered so far, and you don't even have a brain. how does that even work?" I asked it.

<I've made connections to many beasts I encountered so far, and I'm borrowing the leftover computational power they aren't using. Technically I have dozens of brains, yours now included.>

"So, I'm talking to myself right now in a strange way?"

"Absolutely. And it looks weird. You should stop it." Tara stood next to me, looking concerned and worried.

<You can send me thoughts as well, that would be probably better.> The jellyfish sent me through a mind message. I started concentrating on the words I wanted him to hear, and I felt our connection vibrate as I sent it toward him.

<Like this? Can you hear me?>

<Yes, I can. You learn quick.>

<This feels very strange. I don't like it.>

"What's going on? Are you okay? I'm starting to get worried." Tara asked me. Now I was holding conversations on two different planes, and it felt overwhelming. Like texting and talking at the same time.

"This jellyfish sort of connected to my brain or something, and now we're talking."

"What?" Instead of elaborating further, I just sent a message to the jellyfish to show it to her as well. He held up one of his tentacles for her as well. It just now occurred to me that this could be dangerous. But quickly activating a poor version of xin vision, I could see the strings connecting my brain to the jellyfish's crystal which was where his stomach should've been. I felt that this connection could be severed with enough xin, so the worry quickly dissolved. He just wanted to talk to us. I sent a nod toward the still worrying Tara.

She touched the tentacle as well, and I could see the shockwave run through her as well. Then, still using the xin vision I saw the light thread reaching out from the jellyfish to her head as well. It looked pretty cool, aside from the creepiness.

"Whoa. Is this real?" She asked as soon as the connection was made.

<Yes, very. Again, thank you for saving me. All my family was killed which is sad, but I will survive for their sake. I'm probably the weakest of all of us, but I would like to repay your kindness with helping you.> He (I'm using "he", because his voice was masculine before, probably because of me, but now Tara's voice was added to the mix as well, so I don't know anymore. I don't want to use it.) turned towards Tara.

<I looked through your head a bit, and you're very strange. You both are, to be fair, the strangest creatures I've met so far, but you are especially unique. I saw your goal and it is noble, I would like to help.>

"What's he talking about? What goal?" I asked Tara, who had that face again, if I caught her doing something illegal. I felt confused.

"I will tell you someday, soon. But I need a bit more time, and you need to see the world a bit more."

"What, are you testing me?" I asked, now upset. What's this all about? Can I even trust this person?

"I'm sorry. I promise I'll tell you everything, but it's a rather difficult subject. Also, we should get going soon." And so, the conversation ended. It was extremely awkward. She wouldn't look me in the eye.

"Well okay, we'll talk about it when you're ready. Ahh... One second, I need to fix my arm."

Suddenly my left arm began to throb, and the pain washed over me. I gathered my strength and started concentrating and began the healing process. The agony was barely tolerable, as I clenched my teeth to lessen the burden. Suddenly a voice seeped into my mind through the pain.

<I can help with that a bit. Seems to hurt bad.>

"That would be awesome, thanks." I replied to the jellyfish. A moment later, the pain dulled a lot. I only felt it through a filter, and it lessened the effect quite a bit. A short while after, I barely felt any pain, only the dull snapping of my bones back together. A few seconds later it was completely healed, and my senses returned to normal.

"Thanks! What was that?"

<I temporarily severed the nerves coming from your arm so it wouldn't hurt that bad.>

"You're full of tricks. Hey, do you have a name?" I asked the very helpful jellyfish.

<My kind doesn't use names, we are all connected to each other, and we know the other's xin signature to distinguish ourselves.> Came the mind message reply.

"Can I give you one then? It would be easier for us in the future, if you really want to come with us."

<Sure, that is fine by me.>

"How about Neo, then?" After a bit of thinking, I came to this name. For some reason, he reminded me of an early version of AI, so this was my first impression.

<You called some weird parallels, but it has a nice ring to it. I like it.>

"Well then Neo, welcome to the team." I said to him finally.

"Hey, Eli? Do you feel this?" Tara finally finished the embarrassing sulking and finally looked at me with concerned eyes. A few seconds of listening later, I felt it as well. A massive xin wave, rhythmically, like a heartbeat. Then I felt it, not with my crystal, but with my internal organs as well. These were the steps of a massive, truly gigantic beast. I had no chance of beating it.

My xin output causes Tara anxiety, although she is a very good fighter, but this beast affected me as well. My throat ran dry, and my heart sank, and I couldn't even see the creature yet. What could it be? "We should leave. Quickly," I said. We need to book it and find a solution to my leak as soon as possible. "Can you keep up, Tara? Maybe you should climb on my back." I noticed her crystal draining on the way here, while I barely noticed my own usage.

"Are you sure? I'm going to run out after a few more hours, I think. But can you really carry all of us?" Good question. Probably while filled with xin, I could manage. But first, we need the crystals here.

"I think I'll be fine. Neo, would you mind if we took the crystals here?" I asked our new friend, since it was his dead family. Probably a bit inhumane and douchey to ask, but we need all the xin we can get our hands on.

<They would be fine with that, and they won't need them anymore anyways. I think they would be glad they could help us even after their death.> He answered, with no sign of sadness or grief. Just cold, calculated and strategic.

"Alright. Tara, can you take care of that? I'll get the big guy here."

"Sure."

We started digging around in the corpses. It was uncomfortable defacing Neo's family members, but even he helped remove the crystals with his tentacles and putting them into bags. We were as gentle as possible while dealing with them and buried the bodies in a quickly made grave I dug up with my knife in the rocky soil.

Once we were done, Tara put her backpack on, filled with the xin gems, and she climbed on my back. She held on with one hand and used the other to fix Neo in place near my shoulder. It has been only a few minutes since we first felt the massive xin waves over the horizon, and it got more and more intense by the second. It was close.

Just to confirm this, we heard a massive roar. More like felt, it was at such low frequency, it vibrated our internal organs, and caused a weird pressure, but there was almost no audible sound. I took that as a perfect signal for takeoff.