Kabanata 11

Keenan stretched his tired body. He yawned but understood that he won't get any sleep. He clicked his tongue. 

"Tch. Looks like the night is here again…"

He raised his head and realized that the sun was sinking deep on the horizon. The night and stars were going to arrive and welcome him with another dread.

On top of that, Keenan understood that this night would never be a peaceful one. Night was the sign of a bloodbath in this wasteland. The Nightmares would wake up and hunt for food and Keenan, a human, was the best prey they could find in this place. He was tasty and surely a lot of Nightmares would charge at him just to take a bite. In this sick fuck place, he was one of a kind, but he was not happy at all. 

"It's a good thing that I raised my class and got two Skills. Let's hope that this is enough to make me survive."

He tapped his chest to calm his pounding heart. He was anxious and excited, two different emotions surged in him. He was afraid that he would die yet he was excited to use his recently obtained Skills. He was in dilemma what emotions he would show, although one thing was for sure.

"No matter what or how, I will kill Nightmares, that's for sure."

He sighed and started scratching his itchy hair. He had dandruff because he didn't take a bath for three days.

'Let's hope I won't be covered with blood this time.'

He skillfully regulated his palpitating chest and returned his beating to normal.  Despite having erratic beatings of heart, his expression didn't change at all.

He looked around the place to see if he could find a hiding place. Just like yesterday, he couldn't find any of that. Even a high terrain where he could take advantage of height, none of that was present in this flatland.

"I guess all I have to do is to trust my ability to fend off the Nightmares."

He said, as of now, he felt weird that he wasn't afraid compared to last night. Perhaps it was because he had a new power and his past experience helped him to control his emotions. Keenan realized that fate didn't completely abandon him. Despite being alone in this nowhere, he awakened his memories and received two Skills. Perhaps fate took pity on him and gave him something to withstand this trial.

"Well thank you, I guess. Although I don't really believe in fate or destiny. And if you are real, fuck you."

Keenan opened his pocket, he picked up the last cube of chocolate. The bite-size chocolate slightly melted because of the heat. Keenan didn't care about it, he opened his mouth and savored the last real food he had. He didn't want to regret that he didn't eat the chocolate, so while he had time, he decided to eat it now. Keenan played with the chocolate in his mouth, his tongue fiddled the food.

"Don't worry Keenan, you will have another chance to eat chocolate."

He assured himself, he kept believing that he would leave this place. If he stopped believing, then he would lose his hope and perhaps stopped trudging in. He wanted to convince himself that he could escape this place alive.

As Keenan was busy looking at the slowly darkening surroundings, he didn't see that an incoming creature was flying in the sky and targeting him. A Uccelli was coming at him, the humanoid creature with a pair of wings was gliding down to snatch him. The sun completely vanished and the place was painted with the night. Keenan who was busy looking at the land felt that something struck his shoulders.

"Gah!"

He was confused as his vision immediately changed. The wind brushed on his face as he realized that he was in the sky! He looked up and saw that a Uccelli hooked his talons in his shoulders, the sharp claws dug deeper into him. Keenan groaned, his bones started to crack. The strength of the talons was too much for him even though he just class-up. His fortified bones broke and he screamed in pain, the Uccelli didn't show any mercy.

"Ggaaarrrghh!!"

Despite his bones(Scapula and Clavicle) being shattered, Keenan pushed his mind to think! He acknowledged that using his Katana won't work here since he was in the sky. On top of that, he couldn't reach the Nightmare and his shoulder wasn't moving anymore. It would be stupid if he used his Katana. Instead, Keenan activated his Bestia ability for the first time.

[Keenan Corragio]

[Hekatonkheires- Unique Bestia]

[Class-D]

[1st Skill: Invisible Hands: unseen Hands/Arms are attached to the hilt of the katana and they could move based on what the user wants. Maximum reach, ten meters. Range increase as the user gained Rank.]

A pair of Hands manifest behind him. He looked like a ghoul that materialized his kagune, although his Hands were invisible and no one could detect them except him.

[If this was an anime, perhaps using the Unravel was the best opening to use.]

Keenan perceived a unique sensation behind him, he felt like he acquired two long Hands. The Uccelli that was carrying Keenan felt like he became heavier, but it still continued flapping its wings. Rather, it put more pressure on its talons and crushed Keenan's shoulders.

"Aaarrrgggghhhh!!!"

Keenan cried, tears formed around his eyes, the pain tortured him. Keenan didn't have the time to accurately understand his new power, he immediately used it on the Nightmare. The pain stopped him from thinking another stuff, he focused on how to kill this bastard that gave him injuries!

As an assassin, he subconsciously aimed at the neck of the Uccelli, the Hands drifted and grabbed the neck. The Uccelli felt that something was clutching its neck but it couldn't see it. Before the monster could assess the situation, the pair of Hands twisted its neck and it cracked.

"Qqwek!"

The Nightmare's head slanted and its consciousness forever disappeared. Its body trembled and the Nightmare stopped moving its wings, the Uccelli and Keenan started descending into the ground. Their weight led them to plummet faster.

The Uccelli's talons were deeply stuck in Keenan's shoulders and he couldn't take them out. He decided to disregard it for now, he focused his attention on the current event, he might die if he landed wrong.

Keenan gritted his teeth and controlled the pair of transparent Hands, the Hands moved and shifted the dead body down. To weaken his crash, he used the dead Uccelli as a cushion to weaken the impact. Keenan did this move while he was in the midair, his face was slapped by the wind as he fell. But Keenan's attention didn't falter, he would die if he failed.

[And he died, jk.]

[To be continued, wait till Thursday.]

[Unravel lyrics:

Oshiete, oshiete yo sono shikumi wo
Boku no naka ni dare ga iru no?
Kowareta, kowareta yo kono sekai de
Kimi ga warau nanimo miezu ni...]