Evolving Classes In The Apocalypse-Chapter 32: A Fat Boy Survives The Wilderness

After leaving the honorable and confused Enforcer, I broke into a race. My stomach grumbled as I ran, reminding me that I had not eaten in a while.

Of course, this did not reduce or affect my movement yet. A Mundane Defined could survive without eating for a week and still manage to be productive. It was only after a week that their body started to decline and inform them of the need to eat.

As for Novices, the time doubled, and as a Transcendent Novice, I think it should be possible for me to survive without food for a month.

Although, I didn’t want to find out how possible that was. I hoped I would never get a cause not to eat for an entire month.

I ran across the plains, tracing my steps back to the forest where we had been attacked. Luckily for me, there were trails all over the place because Galahad had to drag me the entire way due to my amazing weight.

’At times like this, I don’t regret being fat. Being fat is not so bad when you think about it from this point of view.’

I ran and ran without rest, watching the grey sky transition into a dark starless one. Watched the rocky plains and enormous rocks transition into scattered trees that led me deeper and deeper into their grotesque midst.

And finally, I was back at the site of the accident.

The transport vehicles that had been overturned were in far worse states than when the accidents happened. While that seemed only right, this was a different kind of ruined than anything I had seen.

The ground of the forest, the trees... were eating the vehicles. They were sinking into the earth and being torn apart by tree roots that swept over them like tentacles.

Even the powerful armored tank was not spared.

It was a slow process, not at all visible to the eye. I couldn’t even see them move. But the metals showed signs of being slowly ripped apart, peeled back in places like something beneath the soil was chewing through them.

I took in the surroundings. The transport that had tumbled first and crashed against a tree was the one that had mostly been consumed by it, bark already closing over the hood like a jaw that had forgotten how to stop.

Then there was the one we had been on that served as a barricade. I jumped over it and landed on the other side, something I never would have been able to pull off a few days ago.

Then I walked to where the bodies were gathered, and a pungent flesh-rotten smell hit me before I got close.

There were several bodies around, both Undefined and Defined. The strange clusters of hands were the main source of the rotting though. A Defined’s body takes far more time to decay and usually would not smell for days even after death.

I reached the section behind the barricade where many bodies had been laid and where Ysor herself had been, and stared for a few seconds.

Some of the bodies there had been torn apart by Undefined and many were even unrecognizable. I moved over to the section where I knew Ysor had been laid and saw that it was empty.

Only then did relief fall over my soul.

"Don’t be too relieved yet... now, I need to find her."

"There won’t be any need for that."

The voice reached me before the presence actually registered. My eyes widened in the breath of a moment and in that same breath, I threw myself backward, landing with a guarded expression, my right eye already narrowing, ready to use the [Commanding Glare].

But he threw his hands up immediately. He was dark-skinned with dreadlocks and pale green eyes that glowed with a cold intensity, making all the hair on my body stand on end.

Even though he was smiling and raising his hands, I still felt threatened. Every nerve in my body pulled tight, screaming at me to keep distance. My senses recognized that the threat he posed wasn’t something that could be dismissed because he raised his hands in surrender.

And I felt that was most likely a boon of having a maxed out perception attribute.

Maybe if I had this stat when I was with Galahad, I could have been able to accurately gauge him to begin with.

Thank goodness it came now though... because I could easily tell.

This person was far stronger than Galahad.

Not by a small margin. The gap between them felt like the gap between a campfire and a forest blaze. Standing near Galahad had been like standing near something dangerous. Standing near this man felt like standing inside the danger itself.

He smiled at me.

"You look like you just seen an Undefined Terror. Drop the guard, bro, I’m not going to hurt you."

He spoke casually, but I wasn’t going to listen to him. I did release my tensed shoulders a bit, but my right eye was already scanning for something I could use as a weapon.

He studied me with intention.

"Hmm, red hair... blue eyes... you are not fat though? I thought she said fat..."

He studied me more, trying to peek behind me, expecting to see more fat somewhere perhaps.

I inhaled and exhaled silently, then straightened.

"I was fat though... about a few hours ago, I think?"

His gaze stayed on me for a long moment, then he smiled.

"Oh? Then you’re Axel?"

"With pleasure. Who’s asking?"

He raised his chin, looking at me and grinning with interest.

"Marcel, would you by chance know about a lady named Ysoriel?"

My gaze darkened.

"Take me to her..."

He nodded, his grin diminishing with pleasure.

"Naturally. That’s what I came here for, after all. She said you’d be here and she has made me come back every day for the past three days."

He turned away before glancing back at me.

"I’m truly stunned that you came back just like she said. I was pretty convinced that you were dead."

He turned back and started walking.

"I mean, how often does a fat boy survive the wilderness of Italy? Follow me, Axel! Let me take you to your princess."