Chương 4: Progress

The blood trail leading from the Nosferian's wing to under the car, while gradual, only served to prove that she needed some help. The membrane of her wing looked incredibly vascular, and he didn't want her just slowly dying. So he wasted no time making it to the… rectangular vehicle… he'd call it a truck. He quickly searched the outside of the truck, finding a ladder slightly elevated off the ground.

Not only that, but between each wheel was some kind of metal mudflap that was just barely above the ground, and he believed that these were responsible for making the treadmarks. A bit further down the tunnel were several blood stains- three distinct ones, each a bit further than the last. Ignoring those for now, he climbed up the ladder to reach the platform, then held his hand down for the Nosferian. She looked at him funnily, then crouched and jumped high.

He was taken aback when, even without the wings, she cleared ten feet easily, landing down gently on the platform behind him. She didn't need to flap even a single time, leaving her hurt wing untouched.

'Fair enough I suppose, her legs are literally the only part I can see is incredibly developed. That might be how they take off?' From above, he looked at the gore on the ground and it seemed like all three people had jumped off the left side of the vehicle for some reason, then started running on foot. He'd be incredibly annoyed if the car was out of gas. Getting to the steering wheel and sitting down in the only chair on the platform, he didn't see a "Key" or anything, but he saw practically everything else.

It was like the inside of an airliner cockpit, with buttons and diodes everywhere.

'If I was a cannibalistic hillbilly, where would I put the start button?' His eyes immediately went to the gigantic red button a foot and a half from the steering wheel.

'Please don't be self destruct,' he thought to himself, and poked it. He found that it was loaded with some kind of spring that he had to push hard against, to the point that a single finger wasn't enough. Rolling his eyes, he balled his fist and slammed down on the big red button. Immediately, the truck roared to life, filling him with relief; he wasted no time throwing it into reverse and backing up to turn around.

He was truly afraid that the car would fall forward considering the steepness of both sides of the cave, but it had a shockingly amazing suspension system, its six wheels moulding to the curve so that Aaron barely felt a thing.

'Got damn, these are hand-crafted for Floor 0, aren't they?' Turning around, he pressed the accelerator a bit, still adjusting to how everything ran. He knew if he pressed hard, it would go far, far faster than he was ready for. Seeing that he wasn't moving for now, the Nosferian wrapped him in her good wing, hugging him from behind. He had to struggle a few times when she covered up his eyes for her to get the memo, but again, he would just accept that she was a very "Huggy" person.

As he went, he also noticed a strange sound, a repeated thunking that happened beneath the cabin. At first he thought he'd broken it, but looking in the rearview, he realized he was leaving behind treadmarks, just as he'd seen them do. What he'd thought were the mudflaps of the truck weren't just grinding against the dirt, they were actively slamming down repeatedly to create the treads of a tank.

'To trick people or to have an easy path to follow if lost?

'Both?' He didn't know, but he kept his eyes open, and on the way, noticed several more bloodstains- each just a single person, each spaced by a few hundred feet, as the people threw each other overboard one after the other. He pieced together what'd happened in his mind as he pictured what would happen once it was down to just a few people. Perhaps they tried to throw each other off, and everyone ended up getting dragged down- so that all three were forced to run.

He made it back to the "Crash site" easily, and the moment the car stopped moving, the engine killed itself, answering how they turned it off at least- and why it wasn't running when he found it. Climbing down, the Nosferian following close behind as he dug through his bag for the first-aid kit It was incredibly light, so he wasn't expecting much, and got exactly that when he opened it.

The bandaids were all gone, there was some dirty gauze, an almost-empty bottle of antiseptic, and a half-full bottle of clotting spray. It was enough. Really, all he needed was the antiseptic and clothing spray. Turning around to the Nosferian, he asked for her wing with a series of gestures, getting a hesitant wince as she stretched it out to show him.

He was about to spray the antiseptic, but she might take badly to it hurting her, so he sprayed one of the scratches on his own arm and winced to show it was going to be painful. She wriggled her pointy ears a bit but nothing else, so he'd have to take that as agreement. Now that he was taking a closer look, it was clear the scratch wasn't that deep, as it hadn't pierced her wing all the way through, but it was still bleeding slightly, despite all the time that'd passed.

Spraying it down, he tried to gently hold her arm in place as she squirmed, cleaning the wound as best he could, until he ran out of the antiseptic. He let it dry for a moment, then took the clotting spray and covered the scratch in a layer of it, using about a quarter before he was satisfied with it.

She looked at the new gel wondrously and almost poked it with her other hand but he had to stop her, then she went to fold her wing close again and had to stop her again, trying desperately to gesture to her to just let it set for a while and not scrunch her wing up too much. When he felt she got the memo, he scanned the area again to be sure there were no more threats, then saw the copious resources everywhere, and now that he had a vehicle, he just knew he couldn't leave them behind.

He sighed, pulled the car to the first wreckage, and got to work. * He ended up positioning the car so that one of the large, flipped tractors made a kind of ramp, letting him walk most of the way to the top, swinging the gas tanks over the rest of the way. After gas, he collected everything. If it would fit in the car, he took it. The Nosferian appeared curious to try the meat, but he had to stop her and vehemently shake his head.

By the end of the hour, he was pouring sweat and incredibly tempted by the water in the metal bottles, but held on. He also had a strange mishmash of tools, including what he could see were several sets of climbing equipment- such as ice picks, harnesses, ropes, and pitons. But he'd done it, and now he was likely Floor 0's equivalent of "Rich." Wasting no more time, he got back in the car, wiping the sweat off his brow and collapsing into the chair with a relieved sigh.

The Nosferian- who he still had to get a name from- had tried to help, but she couldn't lift nearly as much as him, and she tired quickly. He started to navigate through the wreckage with the intent to go towards the last crash site when he heard her approach him from behind. Glancing at her, he asked "What is your name?" They hadn't really spoken directly to each other since meeting. After all, why would they, when they couldn't understand each other?

She let out a few complex mousey squeaks and flickered her ears in confusion- that was another thing, he could- very vaguely - understand her ear turns. Ever since he felt himself lose a few pounds from antigravity, synchronizing to her ever-so-slightly, he could also understand her. There was a lot going on with him magically for now, so he checked his Status, getting surprised by what he saw. Directly above his Status was an update, then the Status itself had changed slightly.

{Corruption: 0 -> Corruption: 1} {Primary Ability: Onward Evermore Resistance: 0 Sensitivity: 0 Weight: 0 Corruption: 1}'Corruption? Is that why I'm in her world a bit? That was the LAST stat I wanted to go up considering it sounds so menacing… but it's actually not too bad.' He interpreted it as him being on the Nosferian wavelength for now rather than the human one, meaning he could understand them, just a little bit. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

The other thing that'd happened in the battle was his Primary activating, and now that he had a moment to focus on it, it was blindingly obvious to him, and he had no idea how he'd missed it before. He could practically see it working on him. Studying it closely, he felt it respond to him a bit, vibrating under his skin with intent.

'Hmmm…' On one of his more minor wounds, one of his scratches, he tried goading the Primary to flare up, to put more effort into the cut than it needed to, and it sluggishly responded to him. On his right arm, one of the knicks he'd taken suddenly took on a greenish hue, but did nothing else. He checked his Status after the success, he was disappointed to see that there was no change. Whatever he'd done with his Primary didn't amount to a full point of whichever stat he used to do that.

He was growing distracted by a feeling he'd been ignoring until this point- the Nosferian licking him He sighed. When he first started sweating, she'd sniffed him, then licked him, then just not stopped licking him. He couldn't even blame her, as just about every animal did that to humans considering their sweat was salty, and she likely hadn't eaten in a while. He was covered in blood, guts, and sweat, three things that were gross, but protein and electrolyte rich. He felt bad for not thinking of it earlier.

He'd only stopped her from eating without offering an alternative, so he vowed to return to the bugs after looting this next vehicle to get her a meal or something. * It didn't take him long to see the next car, and unfortunately it, too, was smashed to bits. He still managed to get two jerry cans, another bag, a few sets of clothing, and a dull kitchen knife, but he turned around quickly and ventured back to the bug site.

* It'd been just over an hour since he left, so nothing had really changed with the corpses, and he got down to study them again. This time, the Nosferian joined him in looking at him, shooting him a pleading glance. He gestured for her to go ahead, if she wanted it, and she dug in happily, bending down and taking large bites out of the body she'd chosen. He suppressed a shiver, and looked at the one right in front of him. Clear goo everywhere, considered it. Would it be good if he cooked it?

Actually, were these things parasite ridden?

"Hey, Nothing, can I get sick from eating this stuff?" he asked aloud, startling himself briefly as his voice came out scratchy, and with a slight whistle to it. Likely from the puncture in his throat. The Nosferian glanced at him curiously, but quickly refocused on eating her bug. {Yes, though not from bacteria, viruses, or parasites. Your body is too different from any organism on Vineyard for them to jump from their species to yours.}"Then how?" {For the inverse reason. You will not be able to properly digest the Locapede in any meaningful way, as its body is composed of several foreign amino acids. Most aliens will likely even be toxic to you.} He sighed, shaking his head and resigning himself to going hungry for now… {However, I said most. Vineyard is a planet quite similar to Earth, and it is even located within the Milkyway galaxy. In this, humans and Nosferians are sibling civilizations. The inhabitants of the Vinelings- what humans call those from Vineyards are about forty percent digestible to humans, and that is raised to sixty percent considering your point of Corruption actually assists in softening the transition between you and the Locapede.} He shivered, "Meaning.. I can eat it, but it's going to make me violently ill." {Likely.}"Likely? Or a guarantee?" No answer.

He sighed, letting himself resent it for one more moment before he picked up one of the disgusting, clear flabs of gelatin flesh, licking it. His face went through several forms of grimace, and he gently set the meat back down.

'I'd rather die.' {If you do not eat it, your muscles will not repair themselves, and the fracture on your left arm will not heal,} VoN said to him.

"But why?" he asked, and knew it came out as a whine, but he didn't care. {You do not have the nutrients in your body for it to fix itself, not even close. You are in a nutrient deficit, especially with protein, which you need desperately.} {Locapedes just so happen to have everything required, and are incredibly dense in it as well.} He looked at the slab of meat with dread, knowing that he would need to heal his muscles if he wanted to live. But he just didn't have it in him.

He would rather have his lungs punctured again than be forced to eat more of that bug meat. But if he didn't eat it, he would likely die… He felt a flicker from his Primary, just a slight redirection of energy from it, and focused on that intently. Could it… help him somehow? It seemed like its only job was to keep him running, so wouldn't it be better if he ate, that way he could keep going for longer. It didn't change its course just yet, but he tried visualizing what he wanted, hoping it would help.

The entire time, it'd been numbing the pain from his torn muscles and chipped elbow, because it thought he wouldn't be able to function under the pain, and it was right. It could numb him.

'So please… just numb my sense of taste and smell. It will keep me alive,' he pleaded once more, and finally, finally, it responded. A thin tendril of energy extended towards his mouth and, within seconds, most of his face felt numb- though, using his hand, he knew he could still move it. {Resistance: 0 -> Resistance: 1}"How much do I need to eat?" he asked to the open air, words slurring slightly. {As much as you can. The more Protein you get, the better. If you have enough, you won't even need your Primary to numb the pain within the next thirty hours or so.}'That entire statement is incredibly vague, but also exactly what I need.' Nodding, he simply began to eat, wanting to cry in relief as he swallowed chunk after chunk of tasteless locapede. * He ate. And ate. And ate. At some point, the Nosferian finished her bug, having consumed perhaps half of it- organs and all- before she was full.

While she waited, she watched in astonishment as he tore through three Locapedes, eating far more than his stomach should've allowed. He quickly found out what was going on. As he pushed his stomach to the limit, his Primary seemed to concentrate around his stomach slightly, and as long as he ate slowly and chewed thoroughly, he would digest his food faster than it would hit his stomach. He believed that it was helped along by the fact that these creatures' organs were incredibly soft, practically jelly.

He wasn't thirsty anymore either, which he would not think too deeply about. He had a good Primary, that was for sure. All good things had to come to an end though, and despite the satisfaction of eating an utterly freakish amount, he had to stop as he became violently ill, as mentioned. He stopped, guts spilling down his face, and went go sit against the wall, doing his best not to throw up. Either from eating so much or the weariness of the day catching up to him, he felt a wave of exhaustion roll over him.

He fought valiantly to keep his eyes open, but it was like trying to listen to his teacher's lecture in High School after pulling an all-nighter. The world slowly faded away, becoming muffled. Throwing one last look towards the concerned Nosferian, he slurred "Wake me up if anything happens," closed his eyes, falling asleep to the sound of squeaking. * Floating aimlessly in an empty void, he watched a pulsing green and yellow energy swirl about, and knew that it was his Primary.

Around it, walls of absolute darkness boxed it in; they didn't feel malicious, simply natural. He would not get around them until he met some kind of condition. The swirl in the middle splashed about in its confines, content for now, and much of its energy seemed to well up and wash over him.

"Why do you not flinch?" it asked curiously"The others did when they saw theirs." He blinked.

"I dunno, I guess I'm just having fun."

"Fun?" the thing chuckled,"The others were terrified, even cowering in the face of danger; they have disappointed their passengers, theirs are not as liberal with their usage. What is fun about this to you? What makes you different?" He tapped his foot.

"I guess… I guess I just don't have anything to lose, so every step further is a step forward. I feel like I'm making progress."

"In what?" His foot stopped tapping, and he stared at the swirling mixture before him.

"Myself." * He startled awake, yawning slightly, surrounded by the warmth of a strange blanket. He tried pushing it off him, and found the blanket to squirm a bit, pulling away to reveal that it'd been the Nosferian's uninjured wing draped over him. He wasn't leaning against the side of the cave anymore, but was instead lying underneath the truck they drove around, providing at least a little bit of cover. It seemed that she had moved him.

His Primary was still running hot, but he could tell it had relaxed in some places, likely because his muscles had repaired somewhat. It was interesting that he could watch himself heal in real-time. His stomach gurgled violently, and he let out a groan. He quickly crawled from under the car, grabbing his toilet paper and going towards a side tunnel. * Walking back to the truck, he sighed, giving the Nosferian a terrible side-eye that he was positive she was oblivious to.

Apparently, privacy was not a part of their culture in the slightest. At least she wasn't staring at him use the bathroom though- instead, she seemed to vigilantly stand guard.

'THIS MORNING I was smoking a joint on the roof of my apartment, now I'm being guarded by a wrinkle-faced bat cave woman as I take a shit in hell. Getting old is rough, man. At least I still have my joint.' Silver linings though, he was pretty sure his Primary had just put him to sleep to give itself time to work through the sickness, and he'd probably skipped the entire "Violently ill" stage of it. Did VoN know this was going to happen?

He said it was likely that Aaron was going to get sick, despite almost half of the meat being indigestible. Then again, VoN might've just done his usual "Being as vague as possible" routine and gotten lucky, so it wasn't proof on its own. Either way, it was time to move out. Just as soon as he could find his shirt; he'd only noticed after he started using the bathroom, but the Nosferian had apparently removed it after he'd fallen asleep… and he could see why, if she was just trying to check on him.

Up and down his arms, chest, and abs, were black and green bruises in the shapes of his muscles, where he'd torn them in his fight against the Locapedes. The bruises weren't all either. Many places over his chest and arms had welts and discolored patches of skin, places where the acid had eaten through his shirt and into him. As soon as he thought that as well, he found the tattered remains of his shirt, and admitted that it was a lost cause with how many holes were in it.

It was a miracle he was still standing, one facilitated by Onward Evermore. He was tempted to go straight for the Locapedes again and eat another meal to try and accelerate his healing, but he didn't know if that would help, and he didn't know if they were still good. Who knew how many hours it'd been, and even if disease couldn't kill him, he'd still rather not eat a raw festering corpse. He sighed,'I really have to meet up with actual people.' To that end, he had a plan.

After all, the cannibals he'd met had just taken some heavy losses, and he knew some treads that led back to their home base… Cannibals would keep living victims, right? And they might be overworked from all the new arrivals to The Nothing. If he snuck in and freed them, he might actually get some help. It was either that or wander aimlessly.

'Yea… no.' He hopped in the truck and started planning what he'd do in different situations.