It took a long time to get his breath back to normal. "It"s impossible. It can"t happen to me. System, run a full check of my body. I want to have a detailed a.n.a.lysis. I want to know all about it."[Initiating the a.n.a.lysis. Asking for permission to draw…]
The system couldn"t complete his words, yet Aiden had already confirmed it, "Just do whatever you want."
Moments ago, he struggled hard to survive a little longer, but now that the system had informed him of his inevitable fate, he couldn"t believe it. Even if it was an error-free system.
The shock was so great that the needle pierced around his neck was no longer painful. It took a few minutes, but every minute was an eternity for Aiden.
Age:16
Element: Wind
Level: 2 (2)
Grade: D (A)
Strength: 7 (11)
Agility: 9 (17)
Endurance: 5 (21)
Dexterity: 7 (15)
Intelligence: 10 (15)
Health: 18/57 (-/89)
Mana: 10/32 (-/81)
Battle rating: Level 2 (Level 5)
Skill: [Reduce Drag] [Air Punch] [Air spike] [Wind Skin] [Wind Burst] [Wind Scythe] [Wind Gale]
]
"How can my stats be reduced by so much?" Aiden was expressing his disbelief and the system provided him with an answer.
[The efficiency of the left shoulder is reduced due to injury. Due to acute mana poisoning, excess mana is constantly corroding the muscles and bones of the body, and…]
"Stop it." Aiden growled, "Tell me what the h.e.l.l"s wrong with my body?"
As soon as he asked, an image of a human body appeared in front of his vision. A transparent body with lines all over it.
"These are not the blood vessels, but the mana channels. And the place where all the mana is stored is the bright spot in his abdomen. It"s called the "mana vessel," but there"s one thing Aiden couldn"t understand. "What is the bright point over the heart?"
It seemed that PADS was waiting for him to ask the question.
[This is the body of an acute mana poisoned patient. To be precise, it is the body of one who cultivates magic using the Eastern Methodology.]
[By Eastern methodology, mana is absorbed from the surrounding area and stored in the mana vessel. But when one is diagnosed with acute mana poisoning, another vessel appears in the body.]
The point at the heart began to blink as the system spoke. The mana flow within the body, which has been streamlining until now, has become turbulent. And the mana began to flow to the heart.
[In the case of ordinary mana poisoning, the vessels formed at the limbs. So, by discarding that part, one could survive. But in the case of an acute one, the vessel is much stronger, and even if one goes through a heart transplant, it will...]
"Shut up. Shut up" Aiden screamed like crazy. He was not even worried about the result of his careless action. He went crazy and somewhere in the middle of this craziness he screamed out loud, "Medicine."
"Yes, there is a medicine" He tried to slide down the tree but his impatience peeled the skin from here and there. Aiden was unable to give a d.a.m.n about the new wound as he ran to the Pod Shuttle.
The shuttle was in the shape of an egg and was three meters high. The outer sh.e.l.l was already repairing itself, but that wasn"t important as Aiden ran straight inside.
He was looking for an anti-mana poisoning medicine, but it wasn"t there. He looked at the place where the backup drugs were supposed to be, and it wasn"t there either. It wasn"t just the mana poisoning drug, there wasn"t a single medicine in the entire shuttle.
"It can"t be." Aiden fell to the floor as he grabbed his head, "How could he forget to distribute the drugs?"
Aiden had no idea whether the device was attempting to be dramatic or not, but it decided to tell him.
[It is concluded from the toxicology report that you have not received any shots of anti-poisoning in the last month.]
"Huh! What did you say?" Aiden screamed in rage. But he understood everything the next moment.
"Alex, it"s Alex. Only he can do that. He was responsible for distributing the shots. He was the one who was supposed to put the medicine on the shuttle."
Horror, rage, fear, anger weakened his mental health. Weakness, too, invaded his body, and he could no longer stand.
"Why? Alex why?" Aiden kept banging the hard metal floor as the snot and tears were making a mess of his face. His nose was not effective either. He struggled to breathe with his mouth.
"Why didn"t you let me know when the serum of the shot was changed?" Somewhere in this depression, his anger turned toward the system.
But the system"s voice was as cold as ever, [The host activated me today. So before this time I don"t have any recollection of the incident.]
[The host had obtained only one serum of increased mana absorption during this time. Remaining impact period: 17:24:13. Given the host"s body condition, it"s recommended that the host must remove the serum residue ...]
Aiden could no longer listen to it and smashed the neckband on the floor. Even if he knew that it had no connection to his misfortune, he still couldn"t stop torturing that inanimate device.
"They want to kill me. Mana absorption serum? You b.a.s.t.a.r.d..." Even if he could understand, he still couldn"t believe it. "But why? Why Alex why?" He struggled to get hold of the last straw of reasoning.
"Could it be that he also likes Elijah?" In a moment of hopeless reasoning, he understood the secret behind his attempted murder.
"Yes, that"s exactly what it would have been. Every time I was with her, he..." Aiden couldn"t finish his reasoning. Veins popped up on his forehead as he slammed his pained hand on the floor.
"I"m going to kill you. Even if I have to die, I"m going to kill that b.a.s.t.a.r.d with my hand." He shouted in rage.
How many people have the mental fort.i.tude to accept their death? And in case of Aiden, it was a premeditated murder. For a teenager with above-average intelligence, it was just too much to accept.
There was a fire burning in his heart, and only vengeance could extinguish it. "I have to kill him before I die. Otherwise... "As he thought about the things he could do to Elijah, his rage grew stronger.
"Should I tell Elijah that?" He discarded the thought as soon as it had appeared. "Once she hears about it, she will try to help... No, I can"t let her do that. On top of that, I don"t know about the intentions of others.
"Even without others, Alex isn"t the one I could beat at my top, much less now." The more he thought about it, the more worried he got. "It"s going to be hard but not impossible."
Aiden wasn"t the one who would give up in the face of a tough challenge but would try harder. It was because of this characteristic that he had become the top of the thirty "Desert Base 3" recruits.
Everything fell silent at the next moment. Aiden stood there looking out at the dark forest. He was calm compared to his raging outburst a moment ago. He didn"t have any useless thoughts in his mind. He just had one goal now, and that"s to kill Alex.
The air around him changed as he grabbed the tortured PADS neckband. After all, it was a military cla.s.s. The scratch has been repaired. He put it on as the cold voice came back in his ears.
[Under maintenance. Time remaining: 3:24]
Aiden did not dare to waste a single moment. He moved to check the stuff stored in the suttle. "There"s no weapon as expected." Aiden couldn"t find his trusted Conmet blade.
A couple of energy bars, two mana drinks, two sets of camouflage suits. That was all Aiden could find, and he stuffed it all in the bag.
Looking at the mana drink, Aiden was about to slam in on the ground but stopped. "It"s not like I have any backup water." He sighed and stuffed the pair of bottles in the bag.
[PADS-X is back online.]
"Run another check-up of my body, scan my memories. Do whatever you want." Aiden slumped back on the chair, making it groan and bulge. "Report me any abnormalities in my body. Tabulate all the possibilities that could increase my survival."
The system acted even without a response. Nausea has confirmed its action. Aiden gritted his teeth and waited for his answer.
[Ignoring the wounds five abnormalities detected.]
A human model appeared in front of his vision. Five points were blinking.
[A foreign object is attached to the brain, the torn ligament…]
The system was unable to complete its report before Aiden jumped up. Sudden dizziness made him stumble, he fell on his knee, "What kind of foreign object?"
"The object was implanted on the host three years and four months ago." Aiden exhaled in relief. He had brain surgery around that time. "That"s to reduce the risk of stroke and stimulate my potential."
[The object is in a dormant state, which has never been activated before. The system is not capable of scanning it. Cla.s.sified Data.]
"Huh!" Aiden didn"t know how to respond. From the moment he came to the planet, he had received nothing but bad news.
They were attacked before they could land. The captain of his team is behind his girlfriend. He"s going to die in six days. And now he"s got another ticking bomb in his brain.
The veins were popping up on his forehead. He clenched so hard that blood began to seep out of his fist, yet he was calm. There was a smile on his face. "I"m going to die in six days. Does it matter that there"s one more thing that"s trying to kill me? Continue."
[A torn ligament in the small finger of the right hand, a dislocated left shoulder, a cancerous mana vessel in the heart, and a bony growth in the right knee.]
"There"s nothing new here but the dislocation of the shoulder." He grabbed his left hand, turned a little, and yanked it to the right place. He was trained to move his shoulder around. Yes, it was still painful, but he didn"t have the time to feel it. " System, the list."
It appeared in front of his eyes. But there have been too many possibilities. As he scrolled up and down, he couldn"t find many options that had a success rate of more than 3%.
"Show those with success rates over 10%."
[No solution found.]
Aiden frowned, "5%?"
[1. Anti-mana poison potion. Lifetime: 6 days 14 hours. Success rate: 7.2%]
[2. Blood transfusion. Lifetime: 6 days 1 hour. Success rate: 5.6%]
"Only two? Show the results with maximum lifetime."
[1. Repeated Heart transplant (2 times). Lifetime: 116 days 19 hours. Success rate: 0.13%]
[2. Destroy the Primary Mana Vessel. Lifetime: 96 days 21 hours. Success rate: 0.07%]
[3…]
"Forget about it. I can"t do heart transplant here. And destroying my mana vessel, huh! Wouldn"t it better to die now?"
"Why does it feel like I am missing something?" After thinking for a while he asked again, "System, what will be the lifetime if I couldn"t find the potion?"
"15:52:12" the cold voice poured a bucket of cold water over him. Aiden couldn"t wait any longer. He grabbed his bag and left the shuttle without looking back.
He couldn"t help but shudder as soon as he walked out. Dark silence has become more and more suffocating.
"There are so many eyes on me." It was only when he ran away from a mad elephant during training, that he had the same experience. And that feeling was thousands of times stronger now, "But they weren"t attacking! Maybe it"s because of the taser."
[Tree-walker. Height: unknown. Giant head. Lives above the tree.]
[Thunder badger. Height: 1 meter. Discharges electricity from the back]
[Vampire...]
"Shut it." Aiden did not dare to speak out loud, as thinking was also effective. "Find me the path that I can use."
A circular map appeared on the edge of his vision. It"s been riddled with red dots. Yet, close to the north-eastern perimeter, there was a green flas.h.i.+ng light. "Who is that? Levi or Elijah?"
[Unable to confirm.]
"No problem. Initiate a program of combat a.s.sistance. Mind my mana and let me get to the green light as soon as possible."
[Finding the path…]
Looking at the blinking map, Aiden added, "System, shock me as soon as I get intimidated or feel the fear. Don"t ask, just shock me. Control the hormone level, so I don"t feel fear."
[Excessive stimulation could leave permanent damage to the host"s brain.]
Aiden smiled, but the PADS had not understood his sadness, "Even the permanent one can have an effect on me for only six days, so what is there to be afraid of?"
[The best course is found.]
"Good, lead me." Aiden sighed as he grabbed the broken antler of the vampire deer harder. Looking at the sharp tip he smiled, "It looks like you"re going to live a little more, Alex."
[Activate [Reduce Drag] and [Wind Skin]]
Aiden smiled and activated it.
[Skill [Reduce Drag] activated. Mana used: 1/14 mins. Remaining mana:15]
[Skill [Wind Skin] activated. Mana used: 2/13 mins. Remaining mana:13]
Looking at the mana coast, Aiden was happy. [Reduce Drag] was an agility skill with a mana expense of 1 unit per 10 minutes, while [Wind Skin] was a defensive skill with a mana expanse of 2 units per 10 minutes.
"Wow! Those skills are much stronger now. The effective time has increased too. And the most important thing is that the mana recovery rate has increased from 1 unit to 2 units in 10 minutes. Only if…"
Even before he could feel the remorse, a cold voice rang out.
[50 meters towards the southwest.]
It was in the opposite direction, but he did not dare to hesitate. On the other hand, they were disturbed by sudden movements from their prey, but soon the entire forest was awakened to violent chaos.
[On the third step, turn right and continue for 42 meters.]
The orders were very clear and concise. Aiden had no chance to make any mistake, but…
As soon as he turned to his right, he was greeted by a bright light. The beast was only 1 meter high. But the bright blue back was the most distinct thing about it.
"It"s not light, it"s charging the back. Thunderstruck Badger, huh?" As per the order, the system did not respond to his curiosity, nor did it give any more order. Like the last time, the order came when he was only three steps away from the beast.
[Jump to the right on the third step. Initiate [Air Spike] on your right leg and kick the underbelly. Five centimetres away from the back leg.]
"What am I? A machine?" Even if he cursed, he did not dare to disobey. He jumped to the right on the third step. He was so close that he could feel the charges in the air. Small electrical snakes wiggled around its back as Aiden kicked.
[Skill [Air Spike] activated. Mana used: 1. Remaining mana:12]
The resistance he had made him realize that the kick was not perfect, but it had penetrated the beast. Even before it could cry in pain, the badger was sent flying while splattering blood everywhere. Something else had been affected by the thunderous attack that had been directed at Aiden.
[Turn back and run 121 meters.]
He couldn"t see what it was like before he had to turn back. He understood that his kick and the thunder attack had caused a forest fire. The darkness was struck down by the sudden invasion of light, and the blood of his body was drained from what he saw.