It turned out that the drainage system Lenny spoke of was not far. But the body was surprisingly heavy. It was as if the rigidity a living person had gave them some stability, some form. I guess there was a reason for the term 'dead weight'.
The area they had entered was off the beaten track, and it been relatively quiet that time of evening, those without abilities not wanting to be caught in this area in the dark. They found the drains Lenny had spoken of and dropped the corpse to one side. Though they had struggled to lift the metal grate initially, Harry had brought over a large clump of earth and placed it beneath one of the corners. Then, using his ability, he was able to pop out one of the corners and the others now had enough leverage and purchase to lift the thing.
It swung up with a loud metal groan. Lenny quickly rolled the body inside, and they let the lid fall back with a clang.
There was a silence in the air, eventually broken by Lenny. "I think we should forget about this and never talk about it again."
"Agreed," said Harry.
"Shouldn't be hard," said Michael. "You'll be gone soon."
"Don't sound too upset about it," said Harry.
It was true. In three months, Lenny and Harry would be off. Lenny wondered if they would serve in the same section. Somehow, he doubted it. They usually placed you in a different area from where you grew up, but other than that, the selection process seemed random.
Harry cleared his throat, looking at the young Madonna-in-training.
Rose approached him, placing her hands on his face. A warmth passed through them, as his face began to take on its former sheen.
"Just the cosmetic ones, I'm afraid," she said, already looking tired. His bruised body would have to wait. Next, she healed Michael, who had also taken quite a beating from the gang. She hadn't had nearly enough time since to replenish her spirit essence since the confrontation, but she had already used her abilities more than she ever had done previously. She was surprised she had been able to push herself this far. She thought that perhaps the hunter's life, the adrenaline and life-or-death situations, could ultimately push her to new limits, ones inaccessible to her in a cloistered Sanctuary. But she had taken a solemn vow. The religious nature of her organisation technically gave her an exemption from military service, one of the few. She wondered if Mother Mercy would consider allowing her to attend anyway. Surely, it would be hypocritical if not?
*
When they arrived back with the shopping, everyone looked exhausted. Hungry hands helped themselves to bread, spread and nutrient paste—a familiar combination.
"No sweets?" asked Alfie.
Rose simply shook her head.
As everyone collapsed down around the shopping bags, Harry walked over to his things, finding a small bag of clothes. He opened it up and unzipped an internal pocket, pulling something out before coming back over to Lenny.
"Can we talk?" he said.
Lenny looked over at him. He didn't really want to talk about anything that had happened today, but in truth, Harry understood this world better than he did. Without saying a word, he followed him to a corner of the room.
Harry held out his hand and passed something over. "It's not much," he said. "But it's all I've got. Consider it a thank you. And I owe you one, I guess."
Lenny looked at the small thing in his hand, which looked like a dull marble.
"Scanning… a prey tier spirit core from an unknown beast. It appears to have a wind affinity."
"Do you know what is?" he asked.
"It's a spirit core," said Lenny.
"It's from one of the flying creatures that my dad killed on his last hunt. You'd think earth users would struggle against flying creatures, but he was so skilled he took out 3 or 4 of them."
Lenny smiled, "Sounds like he was strong." He momentarily thought about refusing the gift, but then simply said: "Thank you."
Harry nodded and went to get a slice of bread and nutrient paste.
Lenny slipped out and disappeared into a back alley behind the church. When he was confident he was somewhere where he would not be seen, he pulled out the crystal again.
"System," he thought. "What can I make out of this?"
"Error: a higher spirit stat is required to craft prey tier cores."
"What use is it then?" he asked.
"You can still absorb its spirit essence."
"Show me my stats."
"Name: Lenny Hope. Ability: Transmogrification. Strength: 12. Speed: 10. Stamina: 10. Perception: 5. Spirit: 5. Health 8 out of 10. One stat point is currently available, do you wish to allocate it?"
He thought about it for a few moments, then made up his mind: "Apply one point to strength."
He went through the same routine as before: the clenching, the pain. He thought it might have been a little easier on a second attempt, maybe because he had already been through it, or that he was only allocating one stat point this time, but he felt just as weak as before. When it finally subsided, without hesitation, he said: "Absorb spirit core."
"You have the ability, remember."
A few moments later, the core dissolved into a glowing light in his hand.
"System, what are my new stats?"
"Name: Lenny Hope. Ability: Transmogrification. Strength: 6 of 13. Speed: 10. Stamina: 10. Perception: 5. Spirit: 8. Health 8 out of 10."
"Great," he thought. "Not only did that not hurt, but the prey class spirit core was worth three points?"
The system paused for a moment, not immediately answering the question, then suddenly stated: "Hidden affinity detected. You have gained plus 1 wind affinity. An affinity tab has been created."
"Wait, does this mean I can create wind attacks now too?" he asked.
"In theory. In practice, you lack the knowledge to use the techniques, but you should notice some difference in your resistance against low-level wind users, not to mention a reduction in cost of spirit weapons using wind essence."
"This is awesome," thought Lenny. "If only I could get my hands on a bunch more prey class spirit cores."
The thought only lasted for a moment, before he realised that that would entail fighting beasts several times stronger than the Carrier Beetle that had nearly killed him. That was not something he wanted to repeat… or was it? Things weren't exactly the same as before. With his increased spirit essence, this would provide more resistance against the beast's attacks, not to mention his increased strength. He had a spirit weapon now too, which he could use to pulverise the beast.
Although, honestly, he didn't want to use the rock mole hammer if he didn't need to. The effect of ignoring a portion of spirit resistance was a powerful active effect if he found himself facing another ability user again. Maybe that's why the young terror had been able to hold himself above the other gang members for so long, even those who had started to learn an ability? It would be a shame to let such a weapon be destroyed. He had an idea just what to do with it.
*
The following night, when Lenny was back to full strength, he and Harry snook out while the others were sleeping.
"What do you want?" asked Harry.
"Remember that favour you mentioned?"
"Uh-huh."
"I'm claiming it. We're going hunting spirit beasts."
"Why?"
"No reason," he said.
"Look, I'm up for training, even fighting a stray scavenger if we find one, but if you've got some kind of death wish, I need to know about it."
"It's nothing like that," said Lenny. "I just need to find a scavenger tier crystal. Once we do, consider us even. In fact, I'll owe you one."
"But I already gave you a prey class one?"
"If you don't wanna help, that's fine."
Harry considered for a moment, then said: "Okay, let's do it."
*
They had little success that night. They tried by the dumpsters again, but the Carrier Beetle had been a one-off, perhaps escaping from a nearby portal and not dealt with by the hunters.
This routine went on for three nights, and both were looking tired, but on the fourth night, they heard a siren from the next section. A portal was opening. While most would usually run away from such a thing, they regarded one another thoughtfully.
"It's up to you," said Harry.
It was a difficult choice. There was a high chance the portal would be level 1 or 2, as most were. But if something stronger was to come along, there chance of survival was incredibly low. There was a reason the third class were called predators after all. In truth, the prey class beasts would be more than capable of killing them in a one-on-one fight, if they faced it head on, even scavenger class beasts could if they were careless, but they were relatively confident they would be able to escape. This may have been false confidence, but Lenny was determined to get that scavenger class spirit core.
"Let's go," he said, a grim look of determination on his face.
*
In a small office of Section 42's drone navigator, a new employee sprang into action. He'd only been here a few days, and already, a portal was opening. Just his luck. This would be his first. Having dealt with a few simulations, he knew the correct procedure to take. The local government would not leave its civil protectors so unprepared. Reading the details on the terminal, his eyes grew wide. Section 42, middle district. Level 3 gate.