Escape

[Biomass Gathered]

[Upgrades Unlocked]

[You have 9.3 kg of mass to allocate to your body]

[Upgrades] :

- Retractable Claws

- Sharpened Claws 5

- Enhanced Ligaments 4

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Wait, don't tell me. Is that the glorious, amazing, unfathomable.... hands?

Retractable claws, if I get that upgrade, I'll be able to retract my claws into my body, and actually pick up weapons. My glorious guns, I missed you so much!

Instantly, I select the Retractable Claws upgrade, I don't need to upgrade the other ones just yet. If I have extra Biomass, I'll go back and upgrade them, but hands are my main priority right now.

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[2.4 kg of Biomass consumed]

[Retractable Claws has been unlocked]

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It seems like this one doesn't have a level. That makes sense, I doubt there are any fathomable ways to improve on retracting claws. It seems that I still have quite a surplus of Biomass after the upgrade, so the other upgrades are still on the table.

Looking back at the screen, I look back at the other two options. Sharpened Claws 5 and Enhanced Ligaments 4. The Enhanced Ligaments have saved my life countless times, had I not been as fast as I was I would have been blown to bits earlier. Also, I don't really have any need to improve on my claws at the moment. There have been no signs of anything hard enough to stop my claws, apart from walls and such. It might be good to prepare, but I doubt my Biomass will be sufficient for both upgrades.

Selecting Enhanced Ligaments 4, I feel another sharp pain in my head along with another message in front of me.

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[5.3 kg of Biomass consumed]

[Enhanced Ligaments 4 Unlocked]

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I can't tell what is going on with my body, but I hope it's worth the Biomass. I also wonder what comes after the upgrades reach max level, if there even is one. Do they evolve into a new ability? If only I had enough Biomass to test that theory.

Slowly, I see the messages begin to fade and get replaced by the crates I fell asleep next to. Hovering next to them sits the strange ghost from earlier. When I completely wake up, it speaks in the same distorted voice.

"Wake up. Wake up and harvest the darkness from your enemies. You must strengthen yourself."

Darkness, huh? This 'Darkness' come up many times now, and I become less certain what it is every time I hear it. Is it a power? An energy source? I have level one control over said darkness, but I have no idea how to even use it. I can experiment with it when I get out of here, but for now my biggest concern is escaping the wall. It isn't the worst in here, but I've already had a near-death encounter, I'm not exactly begging for more.

I don't know what is outside this wall, but there has to be some sort of safe location. However, this can wait. There is something more important than that, something that has to be done at this very moment.

Looking down at my hands, I try and compel the claws to retract into my body. Slowly, the claws shrink, receding somewhere into my fingertips until all that's left are three bony fingers. I let out a cry of excitement. Its been so long since I held a gun! Where is one? Oh yeah, the rifle.

Turning around, I head back to the dead Guardian. The familiar robotic corpse comes into view, and next to it lies the battered and rusted rifle. The thing is a mess, the sights are cracked, the stock is practically rusted in half, and the trigger is worn down to a stump, however the gun is usable. I bend over to pick it up, finding it slightly awkward to hold due to the fact that I only have three fingers on each hand. Pulling it up to my face, I look through the cracked lens and pull down on the damaged trigger, letting several bullets fly towards the wall.

My grey maw contorts into a smile. Oh how I missed this so much. Wielding guns practically became a lifestyle for me, it felt odd to go so long without one. But now, things have changed. I have a rifle, however shit it is, in my hands and ready to kill.

Unfortunately, I have nowhere to store this weapon besides my own hands. Usually, this would go around my neck but I don't have a strap nor a holster so that's out of the picture.

Taking one more look at the Guardian, I turn away and head back towards where I almost died. Passing by, I realize that I've came so far in this world. When I first got here, I had dull claws and was barely capable of taking down a singular enemy, even one of the weaker Fallen were a huge threat to me. But now, I single-handedly eliminated seven of them. There is so much room for improvement, especially now that I can wield firearms. However, this is a good start.

Walking forward, I see that the room that the battle took place adjacent to is connected to a metal bridge, it passes over a gaping hole in the ground, possibly hundreds of meters deep. It's so deep I see no signs of the bottom. Regardless, I push on. Thankfully I was never one to be afraid of heights.

When I reach the other side of the bridge, I find a small metallic chest, a blue light leaking through the openings of it. Hopefully, something good is in here. Peeking in, I find two things. A heap of some strange blue rock and another gun. The gun is white, long, and sleek. A black scope sits onto of the body of the weapon and the barrel stretches out for almost two feet. A sniper, easily the type of weapon I've used the most during my time as a hitman.

If you could find a person who has used one of these for longer than I have, I'll never use one again. For almost forty years, from when I became a hitman at twenty-three and died at sixty-one, a sniper rifle had been my most used weapon. Five hundred and twenty four. Those were the number of corrupt politicians, murderers, abusers, and other scumbags that I had put down with just a sniper rifle.

Looking down at the rifle already in my hands, I decided it was a no brainer. Throwing away the horrendous-looking rifle that I had just gotten, I pick up the sniper rifle. The cold metal of the trigger brings me back to my first life, it's amazing.

The quality of this sniper feels much higher than anything we had back on Earth, this world is probably much more technologically advanced. Considering the ghosts, this is definitely true.

Looking back at the chest, I inspect the strange rocks. They don't seem to have any special purpose, so perhaps they are just decorative. At once, they seem to get covered in a strange blue ripple of energy before fading away. As this happens, the distorted voice of the ghost echoes over my shoulder.

"Money... gather it."

I see, these rocks are some sort of currency. I guess the ghost stored them somewhere? I'm not exactly sure where the hell they could have gone, perhaps they were stored inside the ghost somehow. Whatever the reason, it seems as though I have some money now, even though there's probably no way I'll be able to spend it.

Continuing forward, I begin to see the outlines of another room, however, before it stand several Fallen. Five that I can see, two being red and white ones. They seem to be around thirty meters away, not too far.

Holding my new sniper in my hands, I raise it up towards my 'eye'. Through the scope I can see a small crosshair, one that doesn't get in the way of anything too much. Placing the center of the cross onto the head of one of the red and white Fallen, I take a deep breath, making sure the movement of my lungs doesn't interfere with the stillness of my hands as I set my bony finger on the metallic trigger.

With one small movement, a bullet flies out from the sniper with a bang, traveling the distance in less than a second before colliding with the front of the center of its forehead, blowing its head to bits.

The other Fallen stare at the now headless Fallen with a look of shock as they look around, unaware of where I'm currently standing. Pulling back the lever, an empty Buller cartridge is ejected and another bullet is pulled from the magazine into the barrel. Placing the crosshair of the scope onto the second red and white Fallen, I take another deep breath before letting the bullet soar, blasting straight through its head and causing it to fall to the ground, dead.

With this one gone, the Fallen finally trace the bullet back towards my position as they dash behind a wall. I aim my sights towards where their head would pop out from if they try and look.

Holding my breath, I keep my aim steady, waiting. After a few seconds, one of the Fallen pop their head out, exactly where I had placed my scope as I pull on the trigger, firing a bullet directly towards them as I watch them get blown backwards onto the ground, blood pooling around them. As I go to load another bullet, I find that there isn't any ammunition left in the gun.

Setting the gun down softly, I charge in, letting the black bones along my leg compress and launch me forwards. The speed that I travel is faster than before, reaching almost forty miles per hour as I reach their location in around two seconds.

One of the Fallen tries to shoot at me with their gun, but it comes to no avail as I unsheathe my claws and swipe at the barrel of its weapon, causing it to spiral out of their hands. Swiping once more at their chest, I borrow my claws deep into where their lungs would be located as they start to wheeze, their breaths getting shallower by the second as they fall to the ground, clutching the wound.

Turning my attention to the final enemy, I crouch down, letting my fingers get covered in the same dark green aura as yesterday as I dash in. Several bullets fly towards me, threatening to blast directly into my chest, however I am easily able to quickly step to the side, avoiding the oncoming onslaught of bullets as I slash towards the throat of the Fallen letting my claws sink deep into its throat as the green darkness begins to eat away at its neck. The Fallen falls to the ground, onto of the first one who had just took its final breath.

Looking around, I see the dead bodies of five different Fallen. The sheer difference that three bullets made in the results of the fight. Had it not been for the sniper rifle, this could have been another near death experience, something I don't think I would enjoy.

I push these thoughts away, l lick my teeth, and begin to chow down on the corpses of the five Fallen. Shortly, nothing remains of them but bone, armor, and several small green packs of light. What the hell are those?

Picking it up, it seems almost weightless, however it quickly disappears with a blue light as the ghost behind me hums.

"Ammunition... for the sniper"

That same distorted voice rings out.

Returning back to where I had set my sniper down before, I find that it has several new bullets inside of the magazine. I have no idea how this whole ghost thing works, but whatever it does works wonders. I don't have to worry about filling magazines or scavenging for bullets, both of which were tedious tasks I had to perform before.

Holding the sniper, I continue towards where I was traveling before, stepping over the bones of the Fallen and towards the room they were guarding.

Inside the room, crates are placed everywhere, covered in bright blue tarps with lanterns atop them. The floor steps down into a small square in the middle with a circular engraving in the middle. Pipes line the walls, along with several along the ceiling as well. There seems like there's nothing special inside of this room. However, there is a giant hole in the wall with a small white glow coming out of it.

As I step into the hole, I feel the cold touch of water lap against my feet. To my right, I can see a large fan, blowing a cold wind in my direction. I'm not exactly sure what the purpose of this fan is, perhaps it's just part of an extremely large ventilation system. That would make sense as I am currently inside an extremely large wall. To my left sits a singular fan, however, this one doesn't seem to be spinning. A large hole has been blasted through one of its blades, and behind it sits a small opening.

Behind that opening is something I love to see, sunlight.

Almost diving forwards, I climb through the hole in the fan before sprinting towards the opening in the wall. Stepping through it, I find the sun blasting a bright light into my eyes and the grass blowing against my feet. Around me stand several small metallic buildings, along with what seems to be some sort of walkway. In front of me, a staircase leads down into a clearing with a few more rusted buildings and vehicles.

Looking up at the sky, the sun beams warmth onto my body as I see a grand sight.

A humongous white sphere, with several small black streaks hovers in the air, spanning for countless miles wide. The distorted voice of the ghost rings behind me once more as it floats in front of me, staring directly at the same sphere I was looking at.

"The Traveler..."