I needed a few more moments to calm down and let the headache pass.
That worked out well, since my father was making the "final adjustments" while my mother checked for the best spot to cast her spell.
Ironically, to calm myself and distract from the annoyance caused by the motor-battery-converter combo, I decided to turn to the only thing that could serve as a distraction in a world without cellphones.
"Status"
[Name: Fernando Martins
Level: 17
Race: Dhampir (half-vampire)
Job: Fighter Lv. 8
SP: 0
AP: 5
HP: 200/200
MP: 40/160
Condition: Slightly tired
Str: 22
Def: 17
Agi: 28
Int: 15
Mag: 15
Res: 10
• Unique Ability: Resistance
Skills: Antisocial 1, Unarmed Combat 7, Combat Instinct 5, Dodge 4, Item Box 0, Hide 1, Silent 1, Read 1, Clean 1, Herbalist 0, Dark Magic 2, Laziness 1, Swordsmanship 6, Archery 5, Stable Step 5, Thrown Weapon Proficiency 5, Accelerated Thought 0, Acid Resistance 1, Poison Resistance 1, Ice Magic 2, Pain Resistance 5, Intimidation Resistance 3, Fear Resistance 1
Racial Abilities: Blood Magic 0, Night Vision 1, Body Enhancement 5, Advanced Senses 4, Obsidian Claws 4, Bloodsucker 5, Weakness to Heat 2, Vulnerability to Light 3, Vulnerability to Holy 7, Vampiric Regeneration 2]
'Hmph 🙄, "tired" has pretty much become my default status by now.'
... But damn, there's a lot of stuff here.
'And I managed to get all this in, what? Two or three days? If the world stays like this permanently, how hard is it going to be to find anything here?'
One thing that kind of bothers—or worries—me is why I haven't leveled up yet. With the resistances I've gained and the monsters I've killed on the way here, shouldn't I have hit level 18 by now?
Does it get that hard to level up once you pass level 10 or 15?
'Although, to be fair, I haven't run into anything as strong as that drake since then. I'm happy about that from a survival standpoint, but slightly disappointed—not sad, just disappointed—from a gamer's perspective.'
I mean, you always want to level up and get stronger, right? That's normal—and if it boosts my survival chances, even better.
'Still, just glancing over all these skills is exhausting. Isn't there a way to reorganize them, or maybe merge them?'
That would be really convenient.
Oh! Now that I think about it, aren't there some skills missing here? Or am I just losing my mind?
"Nando, I'm done installing the converter. Do you think you can grab the fuel?"
My dad called out to me. I hesitated for a moment, looking at my stats, but decided to close the window and go over to him.
"Alright, how are we going to do this?"
"Simple." So far, every time he's said that word, things have rarely been simple. "You just have to open the manhole and stick the hose in; I'll siphon the fuel from here and put it into the car's tank."
It sounds simple enough when put that way—IF not for at least two crucial details.
"Okay, but how are you going to pull that off with *those* things in the way?" I asked, pointing at the zombies in the gas station lot. "And even if you manage that, how are you going to 'siphon' the fuel into the car?"
There isn't a pressure pump around here; I doubt he built one while fixing the car, and I doubt even more that he'd try to whip one up from scratch right now... Although, from what I understand of his handiwork, it wouldn't be entirely impossible.
He sighed and said:
"Like I said, I'm going to siphon the fuel and put it directly into the tank."
I was skeptical.
"~Aaahhhh~, and I'm telling you that's impossible unless— Oh! Wait, seriously?"
"Yeah."
"Are you absolutely sure?"
"Yeah," he said, rolling his eyes.
"But are you sure you can—"
"YES, NANDO, I AM SURE I CAN SIPHON FUEL FROM AN UNDERGROUND GAS STATION TANK—UP A NEARLY 8-METER INCLINE—USING JUST MY LUNGS!!!!!"
It might have just been my imagination, but it felt like the office shook a little from his shout. What *didn't* shake was the sound of the zombies pounding on the downstairs barricade, trying to reach the office.
"Uh-huh, sorry about that."
"Not my fault; I just sort of... you know."
"Aaahhhh, yeah, I know."
Okay, with the "certainty" that he could pull this off, I turned to my mother. She was still staring at the horde of zombies and hadn't even reacted to Dad's shout.
"Mom, is everything ready?"
She gave an almost imperceptible nod.
"Are you okay?"
"Oh... son, 'okay' is the last thing I could possibly be in a situation like this." There was no denying that. "I don't know if your sister is okay, I don't know if my siblings are okay, I don't know if your grandmother is okay—I don't know about *anyone*. We had to put you in grave danger just so you could help us. And now we're about to send you into another perilous situation right before our eyes." She said this without moving a muscle, her gaze fixed on the window. "I really can't say I'm okay, but I have to keep going so things don't get any worse... Right?"
It wasn't a question, so I didn't answer; I just hugged her, and soon Dad was hugging us both. We stayed like that for a few moments until she calmed down.
"Haaah... Okay, let's get this over with. Nando, I'm going first. Do you think you can make it to the fill pipe in a single jump from here?"
"From here? From inside here, absolutely no. But if I can get a running start off the office 'roof,' then probably."
It's basically an eight-meter drop where I have to land on my feet—surrounded by zombies—while carrying a semi-magical hose to siphon fuel from a tank buried about a meter underground.
Then I have to put that fuel into a car tank equipped with a converter that "immediately" transforms the fuel into magical energy and stores it internally, while keeping a physical reserve in the tank for emergencies, and simultaneously circulating some of the energy through the car itself (or at least, that's how I understood it). Piece of cake.
'... If the hellish creature responsible for the world ending up like this can hear me, I just want to put it on record that you are a ******************* ************* of the absolute ************ ** ******************!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'
"Okay, here we go."
***************
Back up on the roof, I looked ahead toward the general area where the visible opening should be. Luckily, it wasn't too far; if we were on the ground, it would be just eight meters from the base of the office ladder—but from up here... maybe ten?
"Nando, do you really think you can make that jump? Wouldn't it be better if I carried you over?"
My mother asked from right beside me. Two things were different. First, she was wearing her mask, since she couldn't handle the smell of the zombies without constantly fighting the urge to retch. Second, her wings were fully unfurled.
They weren't huge wings—long enough for the tips to touch the ground—but they weren't mere stumps either, the kind that would make anyone wonder how they could possibly support a person's weight.
'Let alone two people.' That was obviously not the sort of thing I'd say out loud.
"No, Mom. Besides, don't you need to use hand signs to create your barrier? Don't worry; it might not look like much, but I've jumped from this height before."
'More specifically, two days ago when I fought those chickens—but that's another thing I'm not saying out loud.'
My mother nodded, flapped her wings, and took flight. She'd said she could stay airborne for up to twenty minutes without issues. However, flying seemed to consume a lot of energy, as well as some mana.
Since she'd also be using mana to create the barrier, she'd likely only be able to stay in the air for maybe ten minutes. Or less, if she tried to help me while I was busy with the hose—or when she had to send it to my dad using the bow (which had been "fixed" in a rush; it would only hold together for one shot before falling apart again).
With her hovering right over my intended landing spot, I moved to the opposite edge. Hose wrapped around the body, bow and arrow too; take a deep breath, gather momentum, and jump.
As soon as she saw me running, my mother made a few hand gestures, and a beam of light descended upon the zombies. A small explosion accompanied by a mildly blinding flash followed, and a five-meter circle clear of zombies instantly appeared.
As expected of a skill called [Barrier] (or was it a spell? I can't recall now), a golden dome formed over the circular area. It wasn't huge—only about two meters high—but fortunately, that was more than enough for me.
And as expected of something created by a holy creature, not even dust remained of the zombies inside the barrier or within a few meters of it... Wait a minute.
[Accelerated Thought activated]
The world slowed down while I was in mid-air; I'd barely used this skill since acquiring it, but now it was proving to be both useful and agonizing.
'If this is a holy barrier, and I'm a half-vampire with a natural weakness to holy things, won't the barrier repel me when I hit it? And that's the best-case scenario—couldn't I also get burned by it, like what happened with that holy radiance earlier? Or worse, end up instantly destroyed just like the zombies?'
'But then again, they were zombies—undead with an even worse weakness to holy power than mine. And even as a half-breed, I'm still alive, so holy things should have less of an effect on me, right?'
My body began to descend toward the highest point of the barrier.
'Besides, I'm her son, so the magic might "sense" the blood relation and not be quite so aggressive, right? But what nonsense—since when does mana have a consciousness? Nando, you're really reaching now!'
Less than a second remained before my body touched the barrier's dome.
'C-calm down, it's okay, it's okay; your mom is still flying nearby, so as soon as she notices something strange, she'll help. She'll deactivate the barrier and grab you before the zombies can swarm and tear you to pieces. That is, *if* you don't get instantly pulverized by the barrier... HOW IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE COMFORTING IN ANY WAY—'
After what felt like minutes to me—though in reality, no more than a few seconds had passed—my body finally touched the barrier.
(Author: Hi, I'm still alive, in case anyone was wondering, but I had to take some time off to recover from the flu—which almost turned into tuberculosis or might have even been COVID; I don't know. All I know is I spent a whole week sneezing, coughing, and suffering from a sore throat and body aches, and I needed another week to recover. Now I think I can go back to posting stories—and I mean *all* of them, just not all on the same day; that would be asking a bit too much. Anyway, thanks to everyone who kept reading, and I hope you continue to do so. See ya! 👋👍)