Chapter 93: Can’t We Catch A Break?
Can’t We Catch A Break?
It took Theresa a few moments before she realized that Mike wasn’t running anymore.
Her eyes were still trained on the utterly massive creature that looked in the distance, its abominable vines whipping through the air at absurd speeds, occasionally creating loud ’cracks’ not too dissimilar from the sound of thunder.
But it wasn’t chasing them anymore.
Theresa let out a large sigh of relief and was about to disentangle herself from Mike when his aura abruptly stopped its release... and Mike fell over.
Such a thing shouldn’t have caught her by surprise as it wasn’t overly fast, but she simply hadn’t been expecting it, and she let out a soft ’oof’ when Mike fell forward, and her back thudded against the ground.
’Is he okay?’ Her surprise turned into worry. The speed he’d moved at was something else, and she’d never seen him move in such a way before. Granted, she didn’t know about all his capabilities, but that had to have been taxing, right?
"Mmph..." However, she was a bit incorrect.
Mike’s eyes were closed as he held her tightly... and rubbed against her.
’... This again?’ Theresa finally realized what was happening. Her cheeks reddened slightly as she subconsciously looked around.
Again, Mike’s movements weren’t inappropriate in any way. However, if an outsider saw a guy rubbing himself against a girl on the floor in the middle of the forest, well, a misunderstanding would be the least of her problems.
Thankfully, though, no one seemed to be around. So, tentatively, Theresa reached forward and ran her hand through Mike’s hair.
The effect was immediate. Mike about melted into her, a soft rumble coming from the base of his chest as he enjoyed the attention like an affection-starved puppy.
’I really shouldn’t be thinking like this...’ Her face burned. ’But...he’s adorable.’
"... I find it hard to relate whatever this is to your ability." Theresa said after a while, and Mike managed to look up at her, his eyes half-lidded with bliss as he mumbled against her.
"It’s... complicated." He managed,but Theresa just nodded,not particularly surprised. If there’s one thing she realized when it came to abilities, it’s that they were all immensely complicated. Even the ’simple’ ones tended to have strange nuances and rules that, in hindsight, probably made zero sense from a purely logical point of view.
As such, while it flustered her, Theresa didn’t blame Mike for behaving this way if it was a sort of cost of him using his ability.
’Also, compared to what he managed to get us out of, this is pretty tame in terms of backlash.’ She noted. Hence, she committed to helping him out of this moment of need.
It was only after 20 minutes that Mike seemed okay enough to function properly, though, je still clung to her side tightly. Not that she minded, of she was being honest.
"So... what do you think happened?" Theresa asked after a moment, and Mike blinked before he realized what she was referring to, and then frowned.
"... I think one of us woke it up." Hearing this, Theresa’s brows raised.
"Really? What made you think so?" Mike was silent for a few seconds before replying.
"When I entered the chasm to find you, I noticed it watching me. But thinking about it now, its gaze felt... dormant. It’s only after it started attacking us that I realized just how extreme its presence truly was. So yeah, it had been sleeping, or was dormant at least, and we must have woken it up." Theresa nodded slowly.
She wasn’t surprised by his statement regarding feeling its gaze. She more or less knew about that uncanny ability of his. However, learning that it had been watching them from the beginning made her shiver slightly.
Turning to Mike, she said earnestly.
"Thanks." Blinking, he looked at her with surprise.
"For?"
"Saving me back then. If not for your senses, I’d have been cleaved by that first attack, and following that, I doubt I’d have been able to escape even if I knew the attacks were coming. I survived because of you, no two ways about it. So, thanks." Mike stared at her for a few seconds, his big blue eyes seeming to glitter, then he made a happy noise and rubbed his face against her shoulder, making her smile.
"I say we call it even. After all, if not for your quick thinking with your bow, I doubt I’d have been able to escape, even with my instincts and reflexes." Theresa scoffed at this, but she didn’t refute his point.
After that, Mike turned his head to look at the large plant, and his eyes narrowed slightly.
He’d leveled up after the escape, no doubt being rewarded from escaping such a dire situation. However, he wasn’t satisfied at all.
He saw himself as a predator, so being forced to flee in such a manner... it was unbecoming.
His human side knew that such a thought was irrational. That was like being mad at running away from someone like the Vice-Principal whom Mike admitted was scary. He should be happy that he even managed to get away.
And yet, that’s precisely what ticked off his wolf side.
Why should he be satisfied with fleeing?
Or rather, why should that be worth celebrating?
Right now, his two natures were at war with each other. On one hand, his human side felt like what had transpired was the best case scenario as, quite frankly, Mike did not have the abilities needed to even scratch such a creature.
But on the other hand, his wolf side was irritated by that precise fact. He was a predator, and yet he’d been force to flee because he couldn’t even hope to hurt his assailant.
That was the crux of the matter. He was a predator, but he’d been forced to flee like the prey.
"Are you alright?" Theresa’s voice brought him out of his internal conflict, and he gave a terse nod, which is when he realized that his grip on her had tightened. Uncomfortably so.
He loosened his grip and sighed.
"Sorry... I guess I’m just mad that I had to run away like like that." He mumbled, and Theresa gave him a strange look.
"Well, it was between that or getting turned into a bloody mist. Your pick." She said flatly, and Mike grimaced.
"I-I know. It’s just...being made to flee like that, completely unable to do anything to even retaliate doesn’t sit right with me. You know?" He tried to explain, and Theresa stared at him for a few seconds before sighing and looking up.
"Have you heard of the Juvenile Spurt Theory?" The sudden question caught him off-guard.
"The... what?" He tilted his head, and Theresa faced forward.
"There’s a proven theory that was proposed a while ago. Essentially, young people with abilities undergo something called a Juvenile Spurt. To summarize, when you are young and you train enough with your ability, the limits to your potential are close to nil, regardless of what your ability is graded as.
This theory was proposed by Professor Bellion after extensive research, and when it was proven, many scholars looked into ways to take advantage of it, and the thing that caught everyone’s attention was this." She pointed at the terrifying creature in the distance.
"If put under sufficient pressure, the speed at which young ability users can tap into this raw potential spikes exponentially. I think that’s what Eventide was thinking when they sent us to this place. Gaining experience is nice, sure, but pressure can either make or break us. And if makes us, well." She smiled slightly.
"Now, I don’t know about you, but that thing is far too threatening. However, we haven’t been retrieved from the planet yet. And I have two theories as to why." Theresa sighed.
"Either they are thinking about how to kill it without killing all of us at the same time, since orbital bombardment tends to spread over a large area, or..." Her expression turned sharp.
"They want us to kill that thing within the month we are to stay here." Hearing this, Mike’s eyes widened.
’Juvenile Spurt Theory...’ He replayed the words in his mind.
If what she said was true, and his young age allowed him to tap into an endless reserve of raw potential, something that got even better as long as he was under sufficient pressure, then that meant...
"... Heh." His lips curled upwards as he chuckled faintly, and Theresa sighed. However, she smiled as well. It seemed like her words got through to him.
’That’s right. Pressure. I need sufficient pressure to grow quickly.’ Mike stared at his hands which slowly became fists.
Up until now, he hadn’t fought anything that truly pushed him. The Verdant Boa had been annoying, sure, and those three spiders with their coordination had been a hassle, but there was never truly any threat to his life.
He was never really in danger.
As such, there was no pressure.
"I understand it now." He exhaled and turned to Theresa, about to thank her, when he froze.
Seeing this, the girl didn’t even hesitate as she drew her bow and activated ther thermal vision. The last time Mike stopped mid-sentence, they nearly got annihilated by a dormant entity beneath the ground.
She looked around, and her face turned grim.
Numerous bright heat signatures surrounded them, and from the looks of things, there were dozens of them.
’Can’t we catch a break?’ She gritted her teeth and began to draw her bow, but a hand on her shoulder made her pause.
"Wait." She turned to see Mike walking forward with a strange look on his face. It wasn’t quite annoyance or fear, more like... reluctant interest?
She wanted to ask him what was happening, but he was already ahead, and as though his movements had prompted their assailants, the bushes rustled as the creatures revealed themselves.
A group of large wolves that were nearly two meters tall despite being on all fours quietly emerged from the bushes.
All of them were a mud brown with a silver like stretching from their foreheads down their backs to their tails.
Yes, tails. Each one had two tails.
Her heart pounded as she looked at each one. She could probably take a few, but all of them jumping them at once would be a big problem.
But despite this, Mike simply walked forward. Specifically, he walked forward towards the largest wolf that was in the back of the pack.
This wolf was completely black, unlike its companions, and it had two silver lines running down its back while being nearly twice the size of the second largest wolf there, which stood next to it.
The alpha.
To her amazement, the other wolves actually made way for Mike and allowed him to get close to their leader, and he only stopped until he was a few meters away from it.
The two of them locked eyes. Mike’s blue ones meeting its black ones.
There was silence for a moment, and then their auras erupted.