Chapter 52: Chapter 52- Tear of Reality
The moment Talon activated the skill, his mind was jolted awake of its trance. He didn't know why, but his body reacted instantly to that and moved accordingly to the information that manifested in his head.
His right hand moved from its position, his fingers twisted as if he was trying to grab something invisible. With a simple motion, Talon slashed down with his hand. Meanwhile, within the palm of his hand, a blue light formed out of nowhere, growing in size and intensity almost instantly.
That light moved through his hand and to his fingers. When that happened, things completely went out of control. Talon's fingers that were moving through thin air suddenly grabbed into something.
However, there was nothing to be caught, at least, not in the normal sense. Instead, his fingers got stuck into the space in front of him. The image distorted slightly as Talon's fingers ran through that thin, weird fabric. The more he pulled, the more stretched it became until it finally tore.
No sound came from that motion at all. All that happened was that the fabric of reality opened, revealing a very dark black interior akin to a black hole in a sense.
At the same time, the Foreseeing Licker's claws were merely a millimeter away from Talon's face when suddenly, an unknown, crushing force smashed into it like a trainwreck.
*BANG*
The floor shattered beneath the monster as it was blasted away with great force as it smashed into the wall. The entire kitchen shook violently as if it was hit by an earthquake as the ceiling started cracking quickly.
"Woah!!" Talon fell to the ground. At the same time, he felt a stinging pain in his chest. The pain increased quickly as it rose to his throat.
"Blurgh!!" Turning to the side, the young man coughed a mouthful of blood. "Ugh! What the fuck?!" He heaved up and down as he quickly turned to look at the monster only to be shocked by the sight he witnessed.
On his side of the kitchen, things were still looking rather normal. However, in the exact spot where Talon tore the fabric of reality open, things changed completely. The floor was completely cracked and bits and pieces of the ceiling fell to the ground. The tables were shattered and the fridges were broken beyond repair as if they were hit by a truck.
On the other side, the Foreseeing Licker's body was destroyed beyond repair. Its muscles were ruptured and its bones were turned into dust.
The sheer contrast between the two sides of the same room shook Talon to the core. Such a destructive power was something he never expected to see.
His eyes then slowly wandered to the tear itself. Never in his entire life did he think he would see thin air torn like a piece of fabric. The parts that he pulled were dangling down while the holes themselves were a very disturbing black color.
A second later, the tear closed up quickly and things went back to normal as if nothing happened.
Talon blinked in silence. He stared at his own doing with a speechless expression. After all, what words could describe what happened?
Acrypha on the other hand, had a frown on her face. It was really true, Talon was capable of tearing open reality now and the result was as destructive as she thought. No, it was even worse than she expected.
Looking away from the destruction, she spoke. "Are you ok?"
"... Huh? Ah, yeah, I'm fine. The claws didn't hit me." Talon said as he slowly stood up with a pained look. Other than his superficial injuries, Talon still felt the burning sensation inside him that was really unpleasant. However, other than that, he was fine for the most part.
[Ding!]
[You have killed Level level 18 Foreseeing Licker. +15 Agility, +15 Stamina, +8 Strength.]
[Ding!]
[You have leveled up 3 times. +6 free points.]
The notifications of Talon's kill finally appeared as he felt an intense amount of energy filling his body. His speed and stamina had increased by leaps and bounds, changing his body again to an even better state. Talon's exhaustion washed away quickly and was replaced by seemingly endless vigor.
His muscles pulsed with even more strength and his veins seemingly expanded to supply even more blood to them. Even his damaged internal organs improved greatly too.
Talon's body was now in a completely different league from before and he could feel it in every part of him.
Clenching his fist, a complicated expression appeared on Talon's face for a second before he looked away from it.
"So, that's what happens when you tear open reality?" He asked Acrypha.
"A tear in reality is something that only the Core Dimension can execute. But, yeah, the fabric keeps everything in order, if it gets damaged, the consequences will be dire. Hence why half of this room was blasted away by that small opening."
"Such a power…" The young man murmured.
This was by far the strongest skill he had gotten so far. Its power was simply made to eradicate the enemy completely. But, its consequences are also not that light. The internal damage Talon sustained was no joke.
'If I used even more Aetheris into the skill, I'm sure I would've not been able to stand up now.' He frowned.
"I guess I won't need to tell you that you must not overuse the skill especially this early on."
"I know. I will keep it for when I need it the most. The flaw is too heavy for me to handle constantly." Talon replied as he gently touched his stomach. Even that small touch was painful.
Then, he turned around and looked at the Foreseeing Licker. He could faintly see the orb inside of it. Finally, the thing he wanted most.
Approaching the dead creature, Talon made sure that the parasite infesting its brain was dead on the ground next to it before he shoved his hand into its chest and pulled out the core.
"Oh, it's blue," Talon murmured as he inspected the orb. It had a very visible shiny blue hue around it which meant that this one was either a weapon or equipment of some sort.
Without waiting, he crushed the orb and looked at what appeared in his arm. Surprisingly, it wasn't a weapon as he expected and instead a brown jacket. It had a soft fabric that seemed really high-quality.
"A jacket?" Talon raised an eyebrow as he inspected it. It didn't look like something old from what he could see. In fact, it seemed like something that would be trending amongst teenagers in his world.
[Elmerone Jacket (Uncommon Item): The most popular piece of cloth by Elmerone. It's not only fashionable but has healing abilities. At level 1, it boosts your healing speed by 5%. It can level up to 25%. It has self-cleaning ability.
Level: 1/5
Bonus Points: +5 Health.]
"Oh, an uncommon item. This is the first ever uncommon item I got." Talon raised an eyebrow. He liked the item's description.
Not only does it help his healing process but also gives him additional points in health. He also won't need to worry about cleaning it from blood after each fight. So, without hesitation, he wore the jacket over his body.
"How do I look?" Talon turned around as he gave Acrypha a look.
"... It fits you nicely." The woman said.
"Thanks. It also feels really warm to the touch. Perfect for this extremely cold weather." He murmured as he hugged his body.
"Let's leave." He finally turned around and walked toward the bag of food he left on the floor. Putting it over his shoulder, he opened the door and left the kitchen.
Slowly, Talon made his way out of the cafeteria. For some reason, as he was walking, he started to feel all weird and sluggish.
His steps were awfully slow and his body was slumped forward.
Acrypha noticed that and asked. "Are you ok?"
"Huh? Yeah… I'm fine. Just a little tired." He said as he continued moving back to the gymnasium.
'Why does this bag feel heavier than before?' He thought to himself. What Talon didn't notice was that his face was as pale as a sheet of paper and he was sweating buckets. All of his muscles felt sore and painful which slowed him down greatly.
"Are you really fine? You don't look normal." Acrypha floated in front of him, stopping him in his tracks.
"... I'm fine, Acrypha. It's nothing." He said as he tried to pass her only to suddenly stumble on a rock and fall forward.
The woman immediately flew toward him and stopped his fall at the last second. Talon's whole body rested on hers as he found himself unable to move.
"What's going on…" He asked weakly as he tried to lift his hand.
Acrypha calmly pulled him closer and touched his forehead. Her eyes squinted. "You have a horrible fever." She said.
"Fever…? Why? I was fine a minute or two ago…"
"Your body has been taxed with too much in a short period of time. Not only did you fight two strong enemies, but you also evolved at an extremely rapid pace. I'm surprised you didn't lose consciousness immediately after all of that. Your body reacted to that through a very intense fever and weakness." She said as she gently lifted Talon up and carried him to a nearby wall where she put him down.
Talon couldn't even resist her as she placed him down. His condition deteriorated that quickly.
'He needs to rest to recover from this fever. I guess even he can't avoid this kind of repercussion after leveling up.' Acrypha frowned as she thought to herself. Almost all beings would go through such a phase after a while.
Their bodies need to adjust to the continuous stream of power that enters them after each monster they kill. Talon's fever was particularly intense because he killed two high-level monsters back-to-back.
"Huh? I need… to move…"
"No, you need to rest." Acrypha shook her head.
It was true that he needed rest. However, she didn't forget where they were. All around them, monsters were lurking quietly, waiting for a moment to attack Talon and Acrypha had no way of protecting him at all.
(A//N: Thanks to everyone who supports the book with power stones and golden tickets, you guys are the best:) )