Levelling with Ben

Ralph introduced Ben to his makeshift home. Ben commended him for setting up an alarm system by himself.

"How did you manage to sleep without alarms for so long?"

This got a nervous chuckle from Ralph.

'I shouldn't tell him or he'll think that I'm insane. Let's make sure that we have some mutual trust first.'

Intentionally, Ralph decided to compile knowledge that both of them had gathered over the months.

Ralph told him about the shadowmen and chimeras, adding that they burned well and had little self-preservation instinct.

Ben heard him talk and decided to add when he felt the need to.

"You forgot about the gems that they spawn out of. I used to ignore them until they started reforming using them. So, I started crushing them, surprisingly they are very soft."

Ralph was shocked, "Hey, just asking, how many of those did you crush?"

"It's been tough as they keep increasing. I had been cleaning hundreds every day until the big one visited, I barely got out alive. That guy straight-up picked my car off the road while I was still inside. If I hadn't jumped out I'd been a goner."

"I was chased for a long time before I managed to escape with a diversion tactic, it only worked because it could hear unlike the others, it was a desperate move."

Ralph decided to intervene at this point.

"The things you were crushing can be absorbed. I've been using them to get stronger."

Ben had an incredulous expression for a while but soon he settled down.

"How have you been 'absorbing' the crystals kid? Don't tell me you have been snorting monster guts all this time. It's a miracle that you haven't turned into one yourself."

Ralph thought about how he should respond to the accusations. If you think about it, the man had a point.

"I think it's better if you see it yourself rather than hearing from me."

With that, he picked up his gun and gestured for Ben to follow.

Ben having already searched the vicinity for threats decided to entertain Ralph's request.

Both of them walked down the empty street.

Soon they stood at a distance away from a shadow which was quickly extinguished by Ralph, Ben watched alongside him.

"You need more practice with that one, you have a very crude grip, unsuitable for combat. I'll teach you later if you want to learn."

Ralph nodded and walked over to the mana stone.

"Observe"

He picked up the stone after taking off his gloves. Ben was about to warn him to not touch it bare-handed when he saw it melt away in his hand. He stared keenly at the spot.

" It appears that there are many things that might've made sense in the old world but to survive from now on, I have to adapt to the new rules."

Ralph walked back to him."You don't need to beat yourself up over it, I still think that picking it up when I first saw it was a mistake, but I was not in my right mind."

Don't be too humble or others will take credit for your success. Now that I know how wasteful I've been for so long, I feel like killing some of them. Since you were right about this one, I'll believe that they give strength as well."

Ben asked Ralph to drive down the road and took care of all the shadows with his gun. Not even chimeras avoided his keen observation. Bullets rained all over the town.

On their way back Ralph picked them up with his gloves on and stored them in his bag.

Soon they were back home, a bag in front of them full of mana stones.

"We'll be splitting 50-50, I can't do it efficiently without you driving and among the both of us you need more strength."

'Why does he think that I'm weak? I mean I do look weak but I can carry him on my back and run around the town. No need to tell him though, he'll understand by himself soon.'

Ralph saw the shock on Ben's face when the mana stone dispersed with his touch.

"I feel stronger but in a broad sense, I feel like the growth affects all my abilities in different ways."

"My back pain visibly lessened when it was fully assimilated. To think that long-term ailments could be treated by using this. Ah, I feel so much better already, I have to see for myself if I can get rid of this accursed pain today."

With that, he abandoned restraint and started absorbing mana stones one after another, when he almost went through with the entire bag, he stopped and smiled.

"Finally after all these years, I can finally sleep without painkillers. Sorry kid, I ended up using yours as well, I'll make sure to let you have the bigger share next time. These things must be the way forward for humanity, if we are to survive against those monsters we need to become stronger."

"I think I get why you were able to survive by yourself thus far, your decisiveness. That's a rare trait to have and even rarer to practice, make sure not to lose that no matter how tough life gets."

"Thanks, I'll make sure to follow your words."

"I believe that I can go for another run, how about you kid?"

"I am fine with that but I have to inform you that you must avoid Wiltsville, there's something much worse than the big shadow there. I thought that it might slip my mind later. If we are to hunt in other towns we should also stick with the car, going barefoot can be problematic if we run into things that we can't outrun."

Ben nodded in response and added his remarks, " I think we also need a better base of operation and I believe that I know just the perfect place."