From Moving Crates to Killing Gods-Chapter 107: Two Tresholds at Once

I’d broken two thresholds at once.

I read the numbers again to make sure I wasn’t misreading them.

Strength: 13

Agility: 15

Constitution: 15

Intelligence: 18

Wisdom: 5

Luck: 8

I thought about why constitution had broken the treshold, and I came to a conclusion. I had pushed my neural pathways past their limit, it seemed that it could grow thanks to not only physical strain, but mental too. Damian had said constitution grew by surviving wounds, maybe overusing spells created some kind of mental wound?

But agility made me pause.

I hadn’t overused Quickstep, I hadn’t run more than usual, if anything the last stretch had been the least athletic thing I had done, a slow walk toward a vine beacon while everything around me dimmed.

Then it clicked.

I had been stuck at 14 for months, every run, every sprint at the training room had done nothing, and what finally pushed it over was something different. It probably grew because I endured walking past the point where I could measure it, past the point where I knew how long I’d been moving for.

What running couldn’t do, walking finished.

Wip made a small sound on my shoulder, curious, tilting her head toward my face.

"Two thresholds broken Wip." I said quietly, glancing at her.

She studied me for a second, then pressed her nose against my cheek once, like that settled it.

The bunker door opened.

Kira stepped in and crossed the room without slowing, pulling me into a hug that had nothing tentative about it, her arms tighter than they looked.

"Don’t do that again." She said evenly, but there was something under it. "Pushing yourself inside Argent is one thing, at least we can be ready if something happens to you there... but out here." She pulled back just enough to look at me, her eyes tired. "Too many things could have gone wrong."

I thought about the serpents, the helmet filled with dark water sitting beside me, how easily it could have tipped and turned me into who knows what.

"You’re right." I said, meaning it.

Something in her expression eased, just a little.

"I’m sorry." I added.

She let out a small breath and nodded, accepting it, then looked at me again with the expression she used when something still needed saying.

"You left Wip with me." She said.

I glanced at Wip on my shoulder, she looked at the wall.

"How was I supposed to explain that?" Kira continued, a trace of frustration slipping through. "If something had actually happened to you."

Wip made a quiet sound. "Wip wip wip." She sounded like she was lecturing me, even if I couldn’t understand a word of it.

"I’ll be more careful." I said.

Kira held my gaze for a second longer, then nodded, closing the matter for now.

"And how is the corridor?" I asked.

"Almost finished with the first section." She said, shifting back to practical. "We’re reaching where the cluster was, Jim scouted it, no Corruptors." She paused. "What happened to them?"

"I’ll explain when everyone’s here." I said.

Later, the group gathered as the light started flattening into that green gray the wasteland settled into before dark, the corridor behind us clean and silver, functional in the way Finn built things when he cared more about structure than appearance... which was not a common thing. Usually Finn’s buildings came with decorative flourishes whether you wanted them or not. This one looked almost practical.

They were all glad I was functional. Coco said it in three words and went back to converting water. Finn’s relief showed in his expression. Coll gave me a nod that carried more weight than it looked. Jim adjusted his glasses and said nothing, which from him was enough.

I told them what I’d done with the cluster.

I’d killed the Acolyte, and the remaining Corruptors were gone from the section, I had moved them over the mountain and they had scattered once I stopped running, the path was clear from them.

"Then the final stretch is open." Finn said, looking at the map. "We can actually finish this."

"Not completely open." I said.

I then told them about the serpents.

Silence followed, the kind that came when something had to be recalculated.

"A seven headed one?" Coco said, wondering if he’d heard wrong.

"Seven heads on one body." I said. "And a lot of normal ones. They’ve probably taken over the location now that the Corruptors are gone. Hidden underground."

Kira studied the map. "Can we route around them?"

Everyone looked at the map, doing the same math.

There wasn’t enough time, the next exile was getting closer and closer, the corridor had to be finished, and any alternate path meant days we didn’t have... assuming nothing worse was waiting there.

I thought of the options we had. But I could only find one solution.

"I can clear the area." I said. "But I need to go alone."

It sounded certain when I said it, more than I actually felt, I had no clear plan for dealing with that many serpents, especially with something leading them.

"That is functionally the same as going in unsupported against an organized serpent pack." Jim said flatly. "With a seven headed variant included."

"Yes." I said.

Jim watched me for a moment, then adjusted his glasses.

"If anyone goes with you." He said carefully. "They will require protection you cannot provide while fighting, they become a liability." He paused. "I agree with your assessment, you go alone."

Coming from Jim, that wasn’t criticism.

It was probably the closest thing to confidence he had given me.

Coll looked like he wanted to argue, then let it go when the logic held, Kira kept her eyes on the map and said nothing, which was its own answer.

Wip had moved to the top of my head at some point, she sat very still.

I reached up and scratched behind her ear once.

Tomorrow.