BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM

1115  A short talk

Erik's communication device suddenly came to life, breaking the silence that nestled in his surroundings after the fight. Emily's voice came through, sounding worried. "Erik? Are you there? What are you doing?"

Erik took a deep breath. <Damn… I'm tired…>

"I'm here." Mira's voice then came through the device.

"That guy was kicking your ass!" She laughed, irking him a little.

"What?! No! He wasn't! "

Mira laughed. "He was! I've never seen you in so much trouble in all the time I've known you!"

"Damn! I almost got killed, and you are mocking me?!" He remained silent a little. "Besides, even if he was, there was no helping it. Haven't you seen him literally throwing me skyscrapers?"

"We saw it," Amber said. There was a brief pause then. "I guess you've gotten his power?"

"I did," Erik said. "In truth, I got two."

"Two?" "Yes. Levium would have never been this powerful if it wasn't for a power that allowed him to control many things simultaneously and split his consciousness. He had a second power, one that gave him a sort of parallel thinking. The system called it 'Will of the Hydra'. It is an X-ranked brain crystal power."

"X rank—" Mira couldn't believe Erik's words. "Are you shitting me right now? This is basically unheard of!"

But then she turned to look at Emily, who had a similarly ranked power.

"What do you think the Chimaeric Demons' brain crystal power rank is?" Erik said. "This is just another X-ranked ability for me."

He got a smug look on his face, but only until he thought about Mira's shocked face. Those thoughts were quickly replaced by worry. "I get why you're surprised, and it makes sense," he said. "But there is something else we should be surprised."

"And what would that be?" "Where Levium got this power... We know he gained it thanks to Doran's research, but this doesn't tell us the original source, a thaid. The only way they could have gotten a brain crystal with such a powerful ability is from a Thaid they killed in Mur."

"Yeah… This is rather problematic," Amber said.

"Why?" Emily wasn't understanding.

"Because it means Thaids on Mur are far more enigmatic and unpredictable than we initially anticipated," Mira said. "Their brain crystal powers might deviate significantly from our preconceived notions. They might have stuff we have never seen."

"She is right," Erik nodded. "Thaids on Mannard all follow some logic in the powers they have; mainly, they are the powering of abilities they had when they were still animals... Thaids looking like cats mostly have powers that make their claws deadlier; Thaids looking like bulls are either armored or stronger than their bodies' show. Of course, there are some exceptions, like thaids using venoms while their animal counterpart didn't, but they are rare."

"A thaid with a parallel will brain crystal power," Mira said. "It goes outside of this logic. Thaids are not smart; to begin with, they might be powerful; that is true, but in essence, they are just animals…"

"I assumed that they would have some resemblance to the Thaids on Mannard," Erik said. "Albeit with greater physical strength, and most likely bigger than them. But now, I'm starting to think that my assumptions may have been off base."

Erik paused. "It's likely that the Thaids on Mur are not only exponentially stronger but also far more problematic to deal with than anything we've encountered before, and that just because of the powers they might have."

"We will think about it once we are there," Mira said. "There is no point in stressing over this, since we can't actually do much about it."

"Right…"

There was a slight pause. "Listen… Given the attack, I decided to head to Maynard Island soon."

"What?" Mira said. "Erik, the Chimaeric Demons need to rest. We can't just rush into another battle so soon."

"I know," Erik said, "But we can't afford to wait too much. The longer we delay, the more prepared our enemies will become, and I bet they already are."

Mira sighed. "I get it, but pushing them too hard could be dangerous. They need time to recover and regain their strength."

"How long do you think they need?" Erik asked.

"At least a couple of days," Mira said. "And that is if we kill all those blackguards, motherfucker, that are still in Sleb Harbor."

Mira had a point, but he knew they needed to act quickly. "You're right, Mira. I'll go help them clear out Sleb Harbor and make some shifts to make sure everyone can rest, while the others take care of the blackguards."

"Try not to destroy the city this time."

He nodded.

Erik had two main reasons for joining the fight. First, he wanted to help his clones clear the city of enemies. This was important because he was planning to ask them to attack Maynard Island soon after, and this way, he would make things easier for them.

Second, Erik needed more mana. Leveling up was the only way to get it and to grow stronger, to make surviving easier, and to make winning possible.

"Alright. We'll coordinate our efforts and clear out the remaining threats in Sleb Harbor as quickly as possible. We three will help with this, too."

"Good," Erik nodded, even though they couldn't see him. Erik turned to Emily and Amber. "Amber, I want you to coordinate with the Chimaeric Demons. See if they need you for something specific, all right?"

"Yes."

Then Erik turned his attention to Emily. "It was you who killed him, wasn't it? Uncle Benjamin. The shot from the rooftop," he said. "Only you could have done that."

Emily didn't reply. Maybe because she thought Erik might have seen what she did as an intrusion.

"Thank you," he said. "You saved my life, Emily. Uncle Benjamin was more powerful than I thought. If you hadn't taken that shot when you did, things might have turned out very differently."

Emily nodded. "How do you feel about it?" she asked. "He was your 'uncle', after all. Even if he was our enemy." Erik was silent for a moment. <How do I feel?>

The complicated tangle of emotions he'd suppressed earlier threatened to resurface.

"I don't know... Part of me knows it was necessary. He was too dangerous to be left alive. But another part... I can't simply forget what he did for me, even if he had ulterior motives and wasn't genuine."

He trailed off, unable to put into words the conflicting emotions swirling inside him. "It's okay to feel conflicted," Emily said. Erik nodded. "Yeah…"

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