Rain Harlow
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Chapter 42
🕑 Added 2025-05-13 15:00:09 +0000 UTCChapter 42: The Next Assessment
The next morning, Jack awoke once more to crud on his skin, though it seemed to be thinning out and had more of an oily consistency to it. He felt stronger and ready to go. Moreover, System-type messages were waiting for him.
G.P.E. has improved to 18%!
Inner Energy has improved to -0.1!
Your Level has improved to 1.3! Please enter the trance and Calibrate, as this changes your total Allotment.
Hot damn, we’ve assimilated delicious knowledge!
Jack hurried to shower up so he could hit the mat and get into the trance that would pump him up another five percent or so. He found himself in Trippy Outer Space again, as Memoria expedited him through the now-familiar process of his higher-dimensional connections branching out and expanding like a growing tree or nerve cluster.
Memoria’s voice was sing-song as she called, “And another fraction bites the dust! Ow! And another one down, and another one down…”
Jack cringed a bit as he came back to. That was more Mom-like than ever. She better not start dancing. Or beatboxing.
Level increased! Create increased! Allotment increased!
Level: 1.3
Allotment: 115 [ 105 ]
[ 2.3 ] Create
He also checked his ‘output’ benchmark GIFT and SOFT targets, and they’d improved to 43% and 69%, respectively. Nice. It wasn’t much, but he was squeezing a little more of the maximum potential without ideal health. Part of it had to be from his improved oxygen absorption, and part of it was willpower or mental toughness. Good signs he had the potential to exceed the average sustainable output at peak conditioning.
Sim training today, fighting stars know what, so every little bit helps.
After his morning routine to juice himself up with energy, and going lighter on initial physical training, he headed for Power Park and his and Lindsay’s customary training area. She was waiting once again in uniform with her hands clasped behind her back, a sober expression on her face this time.
He didn’t want to think about how he was doubting her very existence not that long ago, and so his brain forced him to think about it. I feel like an ass.
Jack walked up and bowed to her slightly. “Shifu. I believe I’m going to be fighting some monsters or something today.”
She returned the bow and then studied him for a moment. “Have you ever heard of the ASS Snake? Capital letters as a pronounced acronym, not ‘ass’ as in ‘butt.’ It’s short for Acid-Spitting Snake, or more accurately, Acid-Spitting Stinger-tailed Snake. But you know how such things go. There’s no reeling that one back.”
Jack went through a complex series of reactions to those few sentences. The first gave him a slight panic as he was just thinking that he was an ‘ass,’ and then suddenly wondering if she was reading his mind. The rest thankfully indicated it was just a coincidence. However, they were still not fun sentences. Thanks a lot for this, Reality. “Uhhh, no, and I am both grateful for that and regretful that my ignorance did not last the rest of my life.”
“Indeed, you are. These P-Rems can only be found around the borders beyond Wilkesland, causing a dwindling number of casualties every year. Worse in years of territorial expansion, as they only stubbornly move from their lairs. Rare and deadly, they will spit a dart-glob of an acid-like venom, accurately at any threat in their territory, very aggressively if they’ve laid eggs. If you’re close, you’ve got to deal with an aerosol spray and the stinger on its tail.
“They are long-lived and will grow up to anaconda size, sometimes bigger, gradually upgrading their prey targets. The biggest will opportunistically hunt solitary humans in particular, preferably via surprise aerosol in the face, which can cause blindness, and follow up eventually with entanglement and stinger damage, which causes rapidly spreading numbness, paralysis, and the breakdown of flesh into more easily digested sludge. The venom is in an almost vein-like sac all down the length, extensive and liberally available. Also, a bit pressurized in complex chambers, so cutting them will spray it into the air initially.”
“What a charming creature! I can’t wait to fight it.” Sarcasm. “Is there any good news? Weaknesses?”
“The head, as usual. Smashing it may be best, if possible. Small puncture wounds will be harder to land and not very useful in terms of trauma to the body. That is all of note for the purposes of the simulation. Grab what you can take with you, only. No tossing things everywhere. For this sim, you’re spelunking into a cave to exterminate a small den for the glory of the motherland. Unlike normal snakes, the females nest in groups, though they don’t hunt in packs.”
“Let me guess, I’m going to find progressively more of them until they kill me?”
“You don’t know what to expect, Junior Agent Laker.”
“Oh, I think I do! They wouldn’t really do this to a lone newbie, would they?”
“Of course not, Jack,” Lindsay said with a hint of impatience. “This is an AR sim. You can take your time deciding your loadout.” On the heels of her words, the underground panels opened, and the tables and shelves rose out for his purview. The virtual ANP bodysuit with the faceplate materialized around him again, now with extra attachments for stowing gear. And a drop-down night vision goggles set.
“Right…” Jack muttered as he began perusing the various implements. He noticed there were a few sparse AR additions. No lethal weapons. The point was to use his powers, after all. Flares. Various flashlights. Rags. He grabbed some and stowed them. ‘ASS-S Mint Healing Cream.’ Always essential when hunting ASSes? He grabbed a tube. And there was also a small bottle that read ‘Shark Repellant.’
Real funny, Memoria. Har har.
He moved on to metal stuff he knew was actually physical. He got his metal shield again, and the machete looked pretty wicked. A smart option. Throwing knives, darts, and a small assortment of spheres and squares. Though he wanted his big chain, logically, he couldn’t lug the cumbersome thing around. But there was something lighter and more compact: four meters of 1/4th inch/6.35mm steel cable. It didn’t weigh much, so he attached a 1kg weight on one end if he wanted to try swinging it around as a kind of flail. He was pretty good at it from his experience using the Cord technique.
We have our hammer to crush heads, hopefully. Amazing, really. It doesn’t take much.
As he was still poking around deciding what to go with, he glanced at Lindsay, standing patiently and waiting for him with her arms folded at her waist. He shrugged as though disappointed as he gestured at the shelves of items. “You know, this gear selection is pretty ASS, but it’ll just have to do.”
She rolled her eyes and made a disgusted sound. “Mmph.”
Chuckling to himself, Jack finished gearing up and getting it all positioned the way he wanted it. Throwing knives were in metal sheaths, which he was practiced and efficient at unsheathing with his power. Some things were in pocket-pouches, some things hooked on his belt or straps, everything designed to be actionable quickly. The machete and shield were in his hands. Maybe it would’ve been heavy on top of a soldier's rucksack or the like, but it wasn’t at all too uncomfortable for him.
He turned to Lindsay. “I’m ready.”
She nodded. “You’ll be placed directly in the cave, so lights on or flip those goggles down. You’ll be facing the direction you need to go, the presumable exit to your back. Going that way is no different than saying ‘end simulation,’ though. By the way, this isn’t hugely a test of hunting, master trapping skills, or other shit like that. Remember that you want to fight them, want to be challenged critically.”
Jack dropped down the virtual goggles to lock into place, which were more like a screen in front of a screen. “Yeah, I get it. Gonna get ambushed at any moment. No, wait! ASSbushed at any moment!”
Lindsay glowered. “I will kill you if you don’t stop, Jack.”
His laughter was very brief, as almost immediately after her words, he was surrounded by a cave all in green from the night vision screen.
It was a loosely rounded, high-ceilinged area of rock and dirt the size of a small room, with tunnels perhaps wide enough for two people, going in front of him and behind him. Ahead, just before the tunnel, was a large, obscuring rock structure, almost a boulder.
Perfect for the first ambush. Let’s ASSess the situation.
If there were snakes just past it, he’d be up-close and personal with ASSes as soon as he rounded the rock. He could possibly draw them to him and have a good handle on them at range before they closed the distance. The meta consideration was that he wouldn’t likely face many right off unless he did something very dumb to attract high numbers. One or two ASSes coming at him might not be very disposed to charge into melee, but rather stick to range. That number of ASSes was hopefully doable.
But, he could also ambush ASSes himself.
Jack decided to hedge things. First and foremost, he channeled memorite, releasing it as the basal foggy cloud. He made his output 65%, something he could likely maintain well beyond the time of the sim. 68 Pressure, or kg of lift, 54 Force. When combat was underway, he’d ramp up to 75%, or higher if things got critical. Hopefully, the first combat would not require 100% or more.
He removed his cord and set it down, then collapsed some of his memorite into it and levitated it well in front of him, ready to use when necessary. Having preserved some of the cloud, he floated the mass over to the rock structure and circled it very slowly, with the cloud exceptionally fine and distributed, nothing more than dust in the air. When he no longer had a visual bead on it, he relied on his Interpret stat capabilities, which limited him a great deal but sufficed for the intended purpose: moving it and feeling around.
Hope the sim has the provision for this shit. It damn well better.
He held it still and waited for the ‘feel’ of something moving. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. He moved it further in what he thought was toward the tunnel. Nothing. Nothing. Something!
It came around the rock, and he readied to strike…
It was a rat.
Jack breathed a slow but annoyed sigh out of his nose. Real cute, Memoria. You’re just all about being cute, aren’t you?! Sooooo cute!
The rat skittered along in his direction. Jack shifted his foot, just enough that the rat might notice. It did, and then stopped dead in its tracks. It stood up on its hind legs briefly, then turned around and went back the other direction, slowly picking up speed.
Bait, perhaps? A reward for utilizing a sensory advantage?
Jack decided to follow behind as quietly as he could, floating his cord mass in front of him. He swept his head around as he went, mindful of the expected ambush from any angle.
Coming around the rock structure, he saw the rat skittering down a long, irregular tunnel of varying height. At the far end, it looked to veer left. The rat quickly outpaced him, and he didn’t rush after it. As Jack got about halfway down, the rat disappeared to the right into what appeared to be a small alcove.
So much for the ASS bait.
He passed up the alcove, not seeing exactly where the opening was but sure it was there somewhere. It would be serious bullshit for a snake to come out of it, so he didn’t plan on digging too much.
Jack continued stalking past, keeping an eye and ear out.
Before he got much further to the left turn, two large snakes — though not as big as he was imagining — came slithering silently into view, tongues flicking out, possibly tasting rat in the air. He sadly had no idea what color their scales were due to seeing in the green night vision. Their bodies were a bit fatter than a typical snake, making them seem flatter against the ground.
Jack was much more prepared for them than the other way around. Remaining still, he flung his cord with the hammer-like end at them, aiming to smash the nearest one’s head in, right off the bat. They were maybe seven or eight meters away.
The strike missed as Jack didn’t quite measure the distance correctly and was rushing it. The weight slammed into the rock with a cracking sound. The nearest snake jerked away in a crazy, brief tangle, while the other whipped its tail out like lightning, stabbing the weight uselessly with its stinger.
Despite the speed, the stinger paused at the end of the strike, and Jack took advantage just as it recoiled away, following up his failed attack by flinging out the other end of the steel cable and wrapping around the ASS’s body, first near the tail. The cable got a quick grip and a double wrap, and Jack squeezed it like a vice. The snake hissed and jerked, but was held firm by the cable, so it twisted its head around, opened its mouth, and sprayed a cloud of venomous mist around itself and the cable. This didn’t do much to the galvanized steel, aside from making it smoke a bit.
Jack quickly brought the weight back up in a vicious arc and smashed it down into the ASS’s head, which had presented a rather stationary target for a moment in order to spray. The weight hit it dead on and smashed its skull into the stone below with a satisfying sound.
A cable flail is the shit!
As its body began writhing in its death throes, Jack let go, ready to deal with the other snake. But he saw only a flash of movement as it had retreated in the other direction.
Shit! Is that little ASShole going to go summon more?
Jack hurried over, holding his breath in case the mist were still a concern. The dying snake was doing a very slow writhe already, twisting up on itself. Liquid acid-venom was running out of its mouth, eating somewhat into the stone but still running down a gradual decline of the terrain. Jack avoided it very carefully. He levitated his cable flail back into the air as he hurried on.
When he turned the corner, there was the snake reared up a few meters away — it had baited him! No doubt seeing what it must deem a much better target, it opened its mouth and spat a nasty-looking loogie at him.
Jack was not immensely caught off guard, his shield still presented in front of him. He held it up and ducked behind it, blocking the ASS loogie soundly, though he missed blocking it dead-on. It clipped the edge, and with his enhanced reaction speed, he saw — and heard — the loogie up-close doing a three-way splatter, some caught on the other side, some separating to splash toward the ground, and some elastically wrapping around to slap onto his side of the shield.
Not enough to hit his hand, but it was damn sure gross as hell.
Eugh. Perceiving a bit in slow motion has its downsides. Ignorance is bliss.
He spared little more thought for the bubbling, sizzling loogie, instead simultaneously peeking around the shield and moving his cable flail hard in the direction of the ASS. He didn’t try to aim this time, electing to just sling it in close and follow up as opportunity presented itself.
The ASS tried to slink backwards and sidestep the apparent projectile, which was not at all enough maneuvering, as Jack simply adjusted and curved its trajectory in answer. His speed was sufficient to make that already inside the snake’s ‘guard,’ and he made the cable whip and wrap around its body and then jerk it violently.
There was a struggle as the snake violently thrashed in resistance and attempted to slip out of the cable, but Jack swiftly wrapped it two more times around its body. He tried to slam its head into the rocks, but it twisted enough to just take a fairly useless body hit. Still, he was out of danger from spitting just like that, as the snake had no time to attack while fighting for its life. Once again, it sprayed the aerosol, but it was not at him, instead at the cable. Jack backed away just in case, as he worked through his power to maintain his vice-like hold.
He got the cable fully wrapped just inside from the head, basically the neck area, and promptly squeezed again, this time pumping an extra 15% boost to Pressure into the equation. Memorite poured out of his body like glitter in the air and collapsed into the structure of the cable, steadily tightening his hold as the snake thrashed around ineffectually with its stinger end. Mucus-like acid squirted from its mouth continuously in a near torrent, painting the wall. Jack kept it from spraying in his direction.
Squishing noises could be heard as he constricted the cable as tightly as he could, and presumably crushed its windpipe. Gradually, the thrashing of the creature weakened, and it went still.
Feeling his body beginning to work up a sweat, Jack eased off the output boost, recalling the extra memorite to him. He dragged the snake back with his cable and dumped it with the other body, then took out a rag to carefully wipe the acid off his shield. He quickly discarded the rag and began looking to press on.
“Nicely done, Jack,” came Lindsay’s voice in his head. “Good practice at practical use and modular, controlled output. Seems like you’ve also found a favored weapon for general use.”
“Thanks,” he replied, rolling his neck briefly. “Seems logical, though I feel like I’m still missing a step with it. Not like if I was slinging the machete around, but still.”
“It’s the lack of a true central branch or anchor, which is how you trained. You have something of one with the weight, but it isn’t optimal for you. I think it’s fine, and your effectiveness is high. Perhaps you’ll get measured with a split score on Cord. Evolution happens as you go. Run with it.”
“Got it. Not sure how it’s going to go against a horde.”
“Who says you’ll face a horde?”
“We both know it already! Don’t be an ASS, Lindsay.”
An annoyed growl. Her voice sounded like she had her teeth clenched as she murmured, “So help me, Jack…”
Smirking briefly, Jack started down the tunnel with his trusty cable flail in front of him. Here we go. Time to face more of these bastards, I’m sure.
He made his way down the tunnel until he was approaching an apparent dead-end. But approaching closer, very slowly, he could see it was actually just a sharp right turn. Sighing, Jack went back to his trick of floating out the memorite mist ahead of him, passing it into the unseen area.
Soon thereafter, he picked up movement, and from multiple sources. He immediately pulled back the cloud and prepared himself.
Sure enough, they weren’t rats, but five hissing ASSes coming around the corner, on an angry tear as they slithered his direction.
“I knew it!”
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