Chapter 348: The Egg
It rained that evening.
The trio failed to localize a suitable rock cavern, settling for a primitive
canopy beneath a massive, ancient oak. The crown was dense enough to intercept
the primary deluge, but the wind continued to force moisture into the sector.
Piers ignited a fire at the roots of the tree, carefully angling the logs so the
smoke drifted away from their shelter. Modi, wrapped in a waterproof tactical
tarp, huddled by the warmth as he roasted two Swamp Rabbits they had harvested
during the cycle.
Karl sat on the opposite side, his back anchored to the trunk, staring into the
flames. The roar of the rain drowned out the ambient noise, leaving only the
sharp, rhythmic pop-crack of the fire.
"Karl."
Modi spoke while rotating the rabbits. "Your 'Finger-Flick' technique...
identify the training methodology."
Karl offered zero verbal feedback.
Modi was accustomed to the silence. Karl rarely engaged in unprompted dialogue;
his response-rate was a situational variable based on his mood.
"You may withhold the data if you wish," Modi continued casually. "I lack the
Mana-potential to replicate it anyway. I am a non-caster."
Piers, who had been auditing their gear, paused his movements. He looked at
Karl, then at Modi, and a small smile touched his lips.
"You wish to know the origin of the technique?"
"Affirmative."
"Eggs."
Modi: "Pardon?"
"Eggs," Piers repeated, his tone carrying a note of paternal teasing. "Do not be
misled by Karl's current output. Though he can liquidate a Tier 3 beast with a
single flick today, there was a duration in his development where he was
terrified of a common egg."
Modi's jaw dropped. He turned to look at Karl. The boy kept his head low, the
orange light of the fire reflecting off his face, his expression unreadable. But
he offered no rebuttal. He allowed his father to continue the narrative.
"Terrified of an egg?" Modi asked. His voice held a note of genuine confusion,
not mockery.
"Karl's ocular sensors operate on a different frequency than ours," Piers
explained, setting aside the blade he was polishing. "The world he perceived
during his primary phase... was not the world we see."
The rain intensified. The wind buffeted the fire, and Piers reached out to
shield the embers, re-centering the fuel.
"A simple cup, in his vision, might manifest as a creature wreathed in
tentacles. A chair might appear as a giant weeping ichor and blood."
Modi went silent. He watched Karl, who remained focused on the dirt.
"His early life was a continuous nightmare. He was surrounded by monsters and
horrors that defied his logic. He didn't dare initiate tactile contact with any
object. He didn't dare look at biological units. Between the ages of three and
six, his vocal output was a flat zero."
Grease from the rabbits dripped onto the coals, emitting a sharp hiss.
"Every cycle when I returned from the Guard, I performed one task." "I placed a
single egg before him." "In his vision, that was not an egg. It was a bloodshot,
twitching eyeball."
Modi subconsciously swallowed a lump in his throat.
"I commanded him to flick it. To shatter the shell."
Piers stared into the fire, his eyes reflecting the orange glow. "The first
cycle, he couldn't even reach out. If his finger neared the target, his system
triggered a recoil-response. I waited. I didn't pressure him."
"One egg. Every day. I replaced the item when the biological decay became too
high."
"The second cycle, he achieved contact. His fingertip touched the shell for a
micro-second before he retracted, but the contact was logged."
"In the third year... he finally shattered his first egg."
Piers smiled.
"A single fissure. After the strike, he collapsed into the dirt, wheezing for
thirty minutes. I told him: 'Observe, Karl. It is a simple operation'."
"I maintained that training protocol for ten years."
The rain seemed to quiet, as if the world itself were auditing the data. Modi
remained silent for a long duration. He looked at Karl. The boy finally lifted
his head, his gaze fixed on the darkness beyond the fire. His focus was distant,
localized in another time.
"And then?" Modi asked.
Karl spoke. His voice was quiet, but every syllable was clear.
"One cycle... the old Imperial Capital was struck by unidentified Undead units."
Modi jolted. He had the data on that event. The "Assault on the Capital" was a
major historical marker of the Old Era. Though he had been a juvenile then, the
elders in the Adventurer's Guild discussed the archives frequently.
"Two Skeleton Soldiers breached our sector," Karl continued.
"A girl—roughly my age—intervened. She ensured our survival."
"She looked back at me once before departing. The aesthetic of her silhouette...
it was beautiful."
The rain stopped. From the distance, the chirping of crickets began—one, then
two, then a chorus.
"I never localized her signature again." "I have zero data on her designation.
Her origin. Her status."
Karl let out a long sigh. "Statistical probability of a second encounter:
Negligible. A lost variable."
The fire burned lower. Modi reached out, adding two more branches to the embers.
He offered no verbal consolation. He didn't know the correct script for such a
story.
They sat in the firelight and the music of the insects for a long time. Only
when the rabbits began to char on one side did Modi frantically rotate the
skewers.
"Burnt," Karl noted.
"Consumable," Modi countered. He took a bite, chewed twice, and pulled a face.
Piers reached for the other rabbit, tearing off a leg. He took a sample. "The
un-burnt sector is acceptable."
"Is that a 'Consolation' or a 'Critique', sir?"
"Stating a fact."
Modi gnawed on the charred meat, a small smile touching his lips. He didn't know
who the girl was, or the weight her shadow held in Karl's core.
But he knew one thing.
Karl had spent ten years mastering a single egg.
And he, Modi, had climbed from unranked iron to his current status in four
weeks.
He had plenty of time left. He would find his own "Egg."_
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you