Free Web NovelChapter 96: Forget it
Clayne stared at Scytherion for a very long time after hearing those words.
The wind blowing through the shattered walls of the school building carried the smell of blood, dust, and rotting flesh from the city outside, yet for several seconds none of that entered his thoughts. His mind had become completely occupied by the absurd statement his newly named mantis had casually thrown at him.
A child?
A girl?
A student?
How did those things even connect?
The more he thought about it, the more ridiculous it sounded.
Across from him, Scytherion continued chewing on the crystal from the giant anteater as though nothing unusual had happened. The creature looked completely relaxed. Every now and then, a faint crunch echoed from its jaws as fragments of crystal were crushed and swallowed. The sight made it difficult for Clayne to tell whether the mantis was serious or merely confused.
"My child?"
Clayne repeated slowly.
Scytherion looked up.
Its draconic eyes blinked once.
Then twice.
"Yes."
The answer arrived through their mental connection with complete confidence.
Clayne immediately pointed at himself.
"Me?"
Scytherion nodded.
Then pointed toward the direction where the surviving helicopter had escaped.
"There."
Clayne rubbed his forehead.
The situation was becoming increasingly ridiculous.
"No."
Scytherion tilted its head.
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Almost."
Clayne stopped.
"Almost?"
The mantis immediately nodded.
The creature seemed to realize that its previous explanation had not been understood.
Unfortunately, its next explanation was not much better.
"Not child."
"Not yet."
"Small."
"Growing."
"Half."
"Little."
"Inside."
Clayne stared.
His eye twitched. fгeewebnovёl.com
"What does that even mean?"
Scytherion became visibly troubled.
The creature shuffled awkwardly.
Its claws tapped against the floor.
Its wings twitched.
Clearly, it was trying its best to explain something beyond its ability to communicate.
Eventually, another image entered their mental connection.
A helicopter.
A woman.
Black hair.
A school uniform.
Five parasitic tails.
The moment the image became clear, Clayne froze.
Urduja.
The image had been unmistakable.
His mind immediately recalled the fragmented memories he had been deliberately avoiding.
The dried mango fruit. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
The overwhelming spiritual energy.
The unbearable pressure.
The bathroom.
The strange scent.
The warmth.
The blurry figure.
The feeling of someone helping him survive while he was on the verge of exploding from spiritual energy overload.
His expression immediately became complicated.
For the first time since waking up after that incident, he seriously thought about it.
The memories remained incomplete.
Most of them felt more like pieces of a dream than reality.
Yet every time he examined them closely, they felt disturbingly real.
That alone made him uncomfortable.
A moment later, Clayne forcibly shook his head.
"No."
The answer came out immediately.
Scytherion looked confused.
"Why?"
Clayne pointed at himself.
"Because that’s impossible."
The mantis seemed genuinely unconvinced.
Through their connection, Clayne could feel that the creature firmly believed what it was saying.
That realization somehow made the situation worse.
Eventually, he sighed heavily.
"Forget it."
Scytherion immediately obeyed.
The topic vanished from its thoughts as quickly as it had appeared.
A moment later, the creature returned its attention to the crystal in its claws.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Crunch.
The crystal gradually disappeared.
Meanwhile, Clayne’s eyes followed every movement.
The feeling of jealousy returned almost immediately.
It was impossible not to be jealous.
Scytherion simply ate crystals.
Then became stronger.
The beasts inside the Tiny World consumed crystals.
Then became stronger.
The creatures he tamed inside the Tiny World received spiritual energy.
Then became stronger.
Meanwhile, he kept obtaining treasures only to discover that his body could not properly absorb them.
The situation had become absurd.
After several moments of thought, Clayne suddenly grabbed the giant anteater crystal that Scytherion had offered him earlier.
The crystal emitted faint yellow-green light.
Spiritual energy continuously flowed within it.
Even holding it caused a tingling sensation in his hand.
Without hesitation, he opened the Tiny World.
The familiar landscape of Silent River Hill appeared before him.
The hill had long recovered from its previous devastation. Green grass once again covered the ground. Rivers flowed through the terrain. Spiritual energy drifted throughout the region.
Clayne carefully placed the crystal inside.
The reaction was immediate.
Dark clouds began gathering.
Tiny bolts of lightning appeared.
The heavenly tribulation descended.
The crystal remained motionless as lightning repeatedly struck it.
Each strike caused the crystal to glow brighter.
The spiritual fluctuations surrounding it became increasingly dense.
Even some of the Ascendant-level beasts roaming the region looked upward in envy.
After a while, the heavenly tribulation finally ended.
The crystal looked completely different.
The yellow-green color had become deeper.
The surface occasionally released tiny arcs of lightning.
The spiritual energy contained within it felt far richer than before.
Clayne immediately removed it from the Tiny World.
The moment Scytherion saw the crystal, the creature practically lit up.
Its eyes widened.
Its wings buzzed.
Its excitement flooded their connection.
"Food."
"Amazing food."
"Wonderful food."
"Perfect food."
Clayne tossed it over.
The crystal disappeared into the mantis’s mouth.
Then came the chewing.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Crunch.
The creature’s entire body visibly trembled.
Its happiness became impossible to hide.
If someone had walked into the room, they would have thought Scytherion had just received the greatest treasure in existence.
Meanwhile, Clayne could only watch.
The feeling of jealousy became stronger.
If only he could absorb those things properly.
If only those crystals worked on him the way they worked on Scytherion.
How much stronger would he become?
The thought lingered in his mind.
Then another thought appeared.
Perhaps he simply had not found the correct crystal yet.
There were still plenty remaining.
Outside the building, countless corpses littered the city.
Mutated dogs.
Mutated cats.
Mutated birds.
Mutated rats.
Mutated insects.
Many possessed crystals.
Perhaps one of them would work.
Without wasting time, Clayne gathered a large pile of crystals and sat down cross-legged once more.
His breathing gradually slowed.
Spiritual energy began circulating.
The first crystal entered his hand.
Immediately, he started cultivating.
The energy flowed.
Entered his body.
Moved through his meridians.
For a brief moment, hope appeared.
Then the familiar resistance returned.
The energy slowed.
The absorption rate dropped.
Most of the power escaped.
Clayne opened his eyes.
Failure.
Again.
He grabbed another crystal.
Then another.
Then another.
Hours passed.
The pile gradually shrank.
Each attempt ended the same way.
The spiritual energy entered his body.
His body accepted part of it.
Then rejected most of it.
The process repeated endlessly.
At first, Clayne remained patient.
Then he became annoyed.
Then frustrated.
Then genuinely angry.
The amount of spiritual energy he was wasting had become ridiculous.
If cultivators from the Tiny World witnessed this scene, they would probably cry blood.
Treasures that could trigger wars between sects were being consumed one after another with almost no result.
Yet Clayne refused to stop.
The sixth crystal failed.
The tenth crystal failed.
The fifteenth crystal failed.
The twentieth crystal failed.
By now, even Scytherion had finished eating and was quietly observing him.
The mantis occasionally tilted its head whenever Clayne cursed under his breath.
The creature clearly could not understand why its master insisted on repeatedly doing something that obviously was not working.
But Clayne understood.
He hated weakness.
He hated stagnation.
Most importantly, he hated being left behind.
Everything around him was evolving.
Everything around him was growing stronger.
The apocalypse itself seemed to become more dangerous every day.
If he stopped now, he would eventually be left behind.
That possibility alone was unacceptable.
Several more hours passed.
By sunset, dozens of empty crystal husks littered the floor around him.
His cultivation had improved.
Technically.
But the improvement was so tiny compared to the amount consumed that it almost made him laugh.
Eventually, he opened his eyes.
Silence filled the room.
The ruined city stretched beyond the windows.
Scytherion remained nearby.
The mantis looked healthy.
Strong.
Well-fed.
Powerful.
A sudden thought appeared in Clayne’s mind.
Then another.
Then another.
Slowly, his eyes brightened.
Scytherion’s efficiency far surpassed his own.
The creature could hunt endlessly.
Kill endlessly.
Gather resources endlessly.
A moment later, Clayne stood up.
The frustration from earlier gradually disappeared.
A new plan was already forming.
He turned toward Scytherion.
The mantis immediately became attentive.
Its draconic eyes focused on him.
"Master?"
A smile slowly appeared on Clayne’s face.
Then he pointed toward the ruined city outside.
Toward the countless monsters still roaming the streets.
Toward the endless hunting grounds waiting beyond the school.
"Hey, Scytherion."
The mantis straightened immediately.
"Yes, Master?"
Clayne’s smile widened.
Then he spoke the words that made the creature’s eyes light up with excitement.
"Go get me more crystals."
