Chapter 13:

It had already been less than two days since Lyra began accompanying this strange and enigmatic swordsman through the barren wasteland of the apocalypse.

Within that time she had come to realize and understand a lot about the person called Huey Blade.

He was... fucking shameless.

And he never really tried hard to hide that part of him, after all, it took less than two days for Lyra to realize that.

But it remained an undisputable fact that Huey Blade was strong. A monster in his own right even.

Over two days traveling the apocalypse, the two had been raided and ambushed by fearless groups of frenzied Elder God, and throughout all of them, Lyra never saw the need to raise an arm in defense.

Huey would massacre the creatures in the most casually horrid way imaginable before she could even think to help. 

It was amazing...and deeply disturbing.

"Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die." Huey repeatedly cursed as he ran his balled fist into the bloody face of the thrashed Elder God. The creature was already long dead, its skull and brain a mushy mess of liquid matter by then.

It was at times like this as she watched that Lyra couldn't help by think Huey might have some lasting grudges against this race.

...if only she could imagine...

'You bastards! How dare you...how dare you...my COD account...my mythics!! Fuck... just die. Die. Die. Die. Die!!'

"U-uhm. I...I think it's dead already." Lyra meekly said, stepping out from where she hid behind rubble.

Huey retracted his fist, sullied with thick indigo blood and brain matter, as he straightened his back and turned around.

He sighed subtly, cast a final aloof glance at the bloody mess that was the creature's face, and lied behind casual breath.

"Oh. I hadn't noticed."

Lyra could only smile wryly at the man.

"Are you okay?" Huey wiped his hand and then said to the girl behind him. He couldn't let his only source of information die by accident on him.

Lyra having similar thoughts nodded a reply.

"I see. We should keep going," Huey said then drew his gaze to the maimed corpse of the Elder Gods before excavating its core.

He raised the shimmering crystal in his now bloodied hand said.

"You mentioned you needed these crystals, right?" 

Lyra nodded then slowly walked up to him.

"Elder God's cores provide a wide variety of uses during this era. For one, they serve as an incredible source of energy. They along with other body parts of the creatures can also be forged and turned into powerful gears and weapons which can in turn be used to fight and hunt Elder Gods down." She explained shortly then Huey diverted his gaze back to the core in his hand and said.

"What happened to guns and China's nukes?"

Lyra shook her head before replying.

"During the first invasion, mankind's arsenal proved completely useless against the tough hides and skins of the Elder God. They couldn't leave a scratch on them. And on the eventual case that some of those weapons could manage to deal some light damage to the creatures, they would just regenerate well as new rendering all efforts in vain."

She paused and continued.

"Mankind had to research other effective ways to slay these bestial abominations. And forging weapons out of their bodies was one of the most effective methods to deal damage to an Elder God." She glanced at Huey and he nodded before turning away.

"What better way than to fight fire with fire."

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.

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The sharing and exchange of information between the two hadn't only been one-sided.

Lyra as well had also come to learn certain things about the world from before the fall of Huey. She had heard him talk about legendary creations, something called Anime, and could only feel awe as her imagination struggled to visualize them.

Huey also hadn't hesitated to share some information about himself, specifically, what he had been up to when the world hadn't yet been invaded.

"Hmm...well I come from a forgotten shitty sword family as the first and only heir to the main bloodline. Trust me, it's nothing special. I had to deal with having my grandad breathing down my neck twenty-four hours a day. The old man was relentless, despite being his age, he refused to die!" 

Huey would talk about his family and granddad with so much venom and emotion in his words, that Lyra was convinced that was one of the few topics that could get the aloof-seeming young swordsman to crack his graceful mask.

By then, she was on her way to getting used to the levels of curses they left his lips.

Despite all the vile adjectives Huey used to classify his old man and family, Lyra could look beyond the mist and subtly tell how much he truly cared and worried for them. It was evident by the way he would 'come to life' when a question about his family was brought up.

His family was, after all, the reason they were scouring the apocalyptic wasteland of the Earth. Huey was insistent on finding his former neighborhood to 'see with his own eyes' what became of it. And if possible, what became of his family also?

And there came the problem, where to begin.

Ever since the first invasion, mankind lost nearly all borders. The very first Rifts contained "Mana" radiation powerful enough to influence and move tectonic plates underneath the earth, causing mass displacement of landmass and territories.

Continents sank and fell and cities were swallowed up and forgotten. 

Huey wasn't even sure what continent he had emerged from. And unfortunately, Lyra could not also help with that. That is classified as one of the information or knowledge lost to the invasion.

"At 13? Are you serious?" Lyra beamed a question, her azure eyes rendered the reflection of a burning hearth on its surface.

Huey firmly nodded, his arms crossed as he sat against the ground on the other side, enjoying the attention and passionate gaze in Lyra's eyes.

"Yes, yes. You wouldn't believe it! Isn't that crazy?" He cried dramatically and lamented.

"Oh, you poor thing." Lyra pitied softly and Huey sighed deeply as he sought through his memories.

"The world even back then was a cruel place for a lone 13-year-old kid to survive all on his own." He sighed dramatically again.

"Even got scammed of all my money this one time!" He cursed as certain memories of a certain drunk old man during his travels resurfaced.

'Tsk. That smelly drunk, hope he got swallowed whole by an Elder God during the first invasion!'

Peeking through one eye and noticing Lyra's vibrant gaze still entirely in him, Huey huffed and said:

"But alas, I came up on top of all of it. You know what they say...said?... tough times make tough men. Those ten years I spent traveling the world forged me and made me stronger. As much as I refuse to admit it, it was all thanks to my grandad and our family's shitty tradition. I saw and experienced all sorts of things and met a whole variety of people..." His voice slowly trailed off towards the end. Lyra noticed his red eyes wander emptily.

...the very next second, all of that somberness was sharply replaced by smug narcissism!

"Yes! I eventually managed to create my School of the Hundred Peerless Sword Technique and was going to spite my granddad and family. I had become so powerful and strong, I could already imagine their awed expressions and faces when they saw me! Kekekekeke..." He laughed shameless into the night.

After traveling for the rest of the day, the two decided to make a small camp in one of the ruined buildings and lit a fire as they shared stories.

Huey wouldn't have minded continuing, he had more vitality and nigh-endless stamina, but he had to remember Lyra wasn't like him.

She was still human, plus he had noticed something strange happening with the girl.

He broke out of his reverie and silently observed the girl from his position.

Lyra...was indeed more stunning than the first time he had seen her, covered in her blood. 

She had short black lustrous hair reaching just under her neck and soft fair skin. Her azure eyes stood out like big wide gems, beautiful and enchanting. They held a fierce gaze, an unshakable will.

Lyra was tall among her peers at least, at the height of 170cm. She had a shapely lean build carved of lean developing muscles underneath all of that soft skin and features.

'She's not busty or has massive boobies that flail around while she jumps around or runs, but she certainly has a slim nice figure, balanced with just the right proportions. Her lean muscles betray all her struggles faced while she came out and hunted Elder Gods.' 

Huey silently thought, nodding affirmatively internally as he enjoyed her figure.

Then he stopped and sighed silently again.

'It's a shame she's dying though.'