A technomancer’s journey in an apocalyptic world - Chapter 100

Xuelong chuckled nervously as she looked around searching for signs of the basement collapsing burying them under the rubble while drowning them in some very vile putrid water and upon seeing no such signs occurring she spoke, “Ylerias I think w should try and find the creatures entrance out of this place.”

Ylerias nodded as she spoke, “I concur.”, with that the two left swiftly while Michalina kept an eye on Ryan.

Michalina wanted to help her brother but the revolting smell and sight made her feel a bit squishy and the claim of his brother that he wanted to see a drug dealers den when she herself had a big hatred for them because of a certain episode in her life did not earn him any brownie points, as such she stood a fair distance away watching Ryan work.

Ryan meanwhile had finished cursing up a storm before the more rational part of his brain reminded him of the consequences of angering his patron God, which made him sweat, maybe want to cry a bit at the unfairness before bashing his head for being so stupid but he held himself off at the last minute.

His eyes then fell on one of the racks which he promptly tore a part of off using his powers, which he then used to poke in the zombie poop.

‘This is like some grotesque rotten pile of red-coloured biomass, with occasional pieces of bones in it, I am thankful for the spell that removes the smell, though I would have loved some help in this it would have been great if I had some help but I understand if they had touched the stash then I might have failed.’

A good few pokes later he was able to find a piece of what seemed to be a piece of paper, which unlike the one he had managed to find, was bigger but at the same time being buried inside the large pile of biomass had taken its toll on it.

‘How is it still intact I will never know, the only thing that has happened is that its colour had faded but still, it is impossible for it is still in one piece.’

Normally he would have taken the paper and stored it directly inside his inventory but he decided against it, as he gave it a quick dip in the water before storing it within his inventory.

A familiar notification chimes in front of his eyes along with the ever-familiar voice.

*****

Quest Update: (2/5) Hidden stashes acquired

Time Remaining: 34 Hrs…

‘Gauntlet of Eternal Forge’ available to the host…

All normal functions Restored…

*****

With a sigh, he moved towards his sister while flinging the rod as far as away from him as possible, before he spoke, “I have finished collecting the second one, shall we move.”

Michalina nodded and soon the other two appeared as Ylerias spoke, “I found a hatch near that corner, and from the blood marks the creature might be using it to enter and leave, though it might not be possible for us to leave without your help as the ladder had given out.”

Ryan nodded as he spoke, “Okay but first let me gather my chain ladder, it has served me well and I do not wish to lose it.”

A few more minutes later Ryan was lying down inside the Goliath, they had managed to get some bedrolls from nearby houses and he knew it would be a big lie if he claimed that it was comfortable but it was better than the solid cold floor of Goliath.

He was not feeling well, in fact, he was the furthest thing from being well, and the adventure had taken a toll on his body as such he force himself to lie down while trying to force down the occasional bouts of nausea.

Maralyn appeared with a glass of violet coloured liquid something he was very familiar with, something that was fed to him from time to time so that he could sleep without any problem.

“Your Holiness, I have diluted the potion enough so that you will only sleep for an hour at most.”, Ryan nodded as he was soon drifted off to sleep as soon as the potion hit his lips.

Xuelong looked towards Michalina as she spoke, “So should we return, for now, we can begin after we have our lunch.”

Michalina nodded as she spoke, “Yes, we should Your Holiness, though since the fifth destination is in a different direction we should approach it from a different angle.”

Xuelong nodded as she spoke, “The third and fourth we should attempt tomorrow morning, the undead prefer nighttime more than a day.”

Michalina nodded as she spoke, “You are right Your Holiness, until and unless something else arises I think your plan is sound.”

“Good, oh and Michalina there is something you should know, you thought that Ylerias and I did not care about him, but it is untrue, the reason we are keeping a distance from him is that this is a quest granted to him only, and our presence might cause it to fail, upon saying that he is not in any condition to fulfil the said quest as such I will helping him while keeping the distance.”

Michalina simply bowed as she spoke, “Your Holiness, your help has been more than enough.”

A few minutes later Ryan was carried back into the Alpha Raven 2.0, and while he was still asleep, though during the way another attack of the curse took place which was dealt off fast.

The scene of the O’Cahill family was a bit sombre one Marcel had arrived empty-handed with a few additional scars and bruises, and that had been in the morning and it as the time for the lunch.

Food, or what counted as the food was more like soup with a scant few solid floating every now and then, but that was their life for now.

Isabella meanwhile was grasping her plate hard, the reason for her doing so was the constant cursing and complaining of a person who claimed to be a vegan and was forced to eat meat.

‘If you are having a problem then why are you eating, there are plenty who would love to have your share disgusting.’

As she thought that she was reminded of a chat that she had with her younger brother a few years back.

********

“You know sister you should not waste any food, there are plenty who could not get to eat even the simplest of food.”

Isabella simply snorted as she spoke, “There are too lazy to work as such they cannot eat, it is that simple, and now stop bothering me.”

Ryan frowned as he spoke, “Don’t be so naive, there are so many of out there because of various reasons ranging from geography to socio-economic ones that prevent them from getting a good meal and here you are wasting yours, without a care of the world.”

As he spoke Isabella glare grew as she spoke, “This is a free country and as such I will do what I want to.”

Ryan shook his head as he spoke with a sigh, “Yes, you have the right to as long as those are permitted by the laws of the society but you are forgetting something vitally important here, others do not have such.”

“As people grew up they learned to cultivate, to rear animals but at the end of the day they ended up depended upon the climate for their food, and because of the climate and nature of the region some places had become more inclined towards a certain food type, but in our age, it is possible for anyone to be a vegan, or vegetarian or meat eater easily because of the advance in our technology but even then there are parts of this world where people do not get to eat even a stale piece of bread, it would be much easier if we could share with them as we tend to waste more than we need.”

Isabella’s nostril’s flared with anger before she spoke with anger in her voice, “Are you doing nerd? Giving me a headache through your preaching.”, with her piece being said she grabbed Ryan’s plate as she stood up.

“What are you doing I have yet to eat?”

She did not listen to his protest as she threw Ryan’s food into the bin as she spoke with a cruel smirk, “Oh dear seems like my hand has slipped, I hope you would not waste it, Ryan, all those lazy good for nothing layabouts are waiting for you their Hero to prevent the hardworking people from enjoying their well-earned lunch, I hope you will eat it and not let it go to waste.”

Her words gained a bout of laughter and applause from her twin while Ryan glared at her before he left the table, then later on a slightly twisted version of the tale caused Ryan to be debarred from eating his dinner by her parents.

*****

As she brought her bowl to her lips to drink its contents she could not help but let out a pained sigh, ‘How foolish I was, I understand now what pangs of hunger are, and if possible I wish to give a mind or two to my foolish idiotic self.’

Her musings were cut short when a familiar car appeared, the occupants of the car stepped outside before one of them carried Ryan on a stretcher.

Eleanora looked at the stretcher as she spoke, “Why is he on a stretcher?”

Marcel frowned as he spoke, “You remember the effect of the curse that we saw on him, it might be because of that.”, he stood up from his seat as he spoke, “I will go and check on him.”

Eleanora stopped him as she spoke, “Wait for a minute dear I would also accompany you.”

Only for the duo to be stopped by Beth who spoke with a glare, “You will only go after you have finished eating your lunch, you have to take better care of yourself, otherwise who will look after your children if you fall ill.”

The husband and wife looked at each other before swallowing their food as fast as possible, and then the duo moved as fast they could to meet with Ryan, and a few minutes later they were stopped from entering Ryan’s compartment by Angela who stood blocking their path.

“Please we want to meet with our son.”

Angela raised her hand in a placating motion before she spoke, “Ryan is sleeping currently.”

Marcel growled as he spoke, “The last time we met he was very sick so why did he need to go out there, and why did he need to be brought in on a stretcher, something does not add up, is he injured even more.”

“No he is not, he is indeed sleeping because he is tired, but what is he to you?”

The newcomer’s voice came to their ears as they looked and was surprised to see the towering figure of Xuelong looking down at them with a frown on her face.

Marcel looked at Xuelong her stare unnerved him but with mustering great courage he spoke, “He is my son, it is my right to know and be by his side.”

Xuelong’s eyes narrowed as she spoke, “It is true that you might have brought him to this world, but I also know something happened between him and your family that made him estrange but in the greater scheme of things that is irrelevant because Ryan is my fellow brethren, an Apostle as such his life, his soul, his present, his future all belongs to his patron God, you are of no consequences to him, take pride in giving birth to such a pious and blessed person and then forget you even have a son, now leave.”

With that, she turned to leave leaving behind a pair of gobsmacked parents, when Eleanora spoke out loud drawing attention to her, “How dare you say such a thing? He is, was and will always be my son, I do not care what a God wishes I will never give him up.”

Xuelong half turned her head as she spoke with a mocking sneer in her voice, “Give him, please Ryan already belongs to his patron God he lives by His will and will die by His will, now stop creating ruckus he needs his rest, and a friendly warning to you two, my brethren is like my family and mess with him and you will have to face the combined wrath of two apostles, and I do not believe you would like it considering your other children might come to harm.”

With her words being said she left while Angela stopped Ryan’s ex-parents from further arguing with Xuelong.