Chapter 385: Another Variant
The elder blinked at the sudden change of attitude, straightening as he saw his ability seemed to have given him the leverage he needed to get them all out of here.
"Well, good sir-" he was cut off mid-speech.
"Stop calling me that, it’s unnerving, just call me Uriel," he clarified with a wave of his hand.
The elder nodded, and continued, "Well, the thing is, my ability feeds off the earthen force concentrated in sand granules, without enough of them I won’t be able to go far."
Uriel gave a slow nod, the more sand the man could access the farther he could go, hence why he asked to be taken to the shore.
Over there he probably could access enough particles to get them out of this place, maybe not directly to the USA, but if they could get to Pangea, at least 80% of their current problems would be solved.
"How far do you estimate you can get with what we have here?" Uriel asked again, his tone loosening, somehow this elder had gone from suspect to likeable.
"Well..." the elder was just about to start calculating when suddenly a voice cut through the distance.
"Captain Uriel, be careful!" a soldier yelled as three defiled beasts, one dark feline and two blue-furred rodents, pounced their way.
Uriel frowned, his head whipping towards the direction of looming danger, his frame leaping from the steed, as astral might flowed wildly from his body along with a thick current of lightning.
The entire planet feeling his might as the sky brewed and storms of wind raged, lightning-pregnant clouds churning wild as Uriel’s frame burst into a streak of light and currents.
How strong was Uriel now? Not only had he almost maxed out all stats, he had advanced his bronze cells quite a bit, making his stat efficiency even more ridiculous.
Allowing him the might to engage defiled with his bare hands... at least the weaker kind, like those coming his way.
The beasts didn’t even know when death came, Uriel moved so swiftly, dealing lethal, vitality-snuffing strikes.
Ripping the defiled to shreds right before the eyes of those watching.
The soldiers cheered with fervor, their battle spirits rising.
While elder Lenny and the others could only watch, mouths hanging open.
Each time they saw the captain-level figures they could only marvel and wonder how fellow humans could grow so strong.
Within a blink of an eye Uriel was back upon his steed, his breathing steady, though his damaged armour let out sputters of sparks and lights.
It wasn’t from damage, it was from the sheer friction the cracked armour was forced to endure with its weakened integrity.
"You were saying?" Uriel asked the old man as he took back the reins of his steed.
The group were forced out of their daze by his words, coughing weakly, the elder continued his response.
"Due to the pressure of this evil force affecting me, I can only hope to muster a distance of around 500 kilometers..."
Uriel’s eyes moved to the radar projection pasted on the interface of his battle suit.
He did the mental math... and he calculated Elaine and her crew should be at most 350 kilometers away...
That should fall into the elder’s range, while this distance was nothing to him, as with his speed he could cross it if he so pleased.
But the problem would be that the others wouldn’t be able to keep up.
"Are there any restrictions to your ability I should be aware of?" Uriel asked.
"Well..." the old man fell into thought, scratching his grey hair. "The thing is, I haven’t had the liberty to use that ability often enough to know if there are any restrictions."
Then, hurriedly, lest Uriel become disappointed, he added, "But I doubt there are any..."
Hearing this, Uriel raised a brow, "Oh? How many times have you used this ability?"
Hearing this, the elder’s gaze dropped to the ground, his fingers worrying the hem of his tunic, "I-I haven’t used it before..."
Uriel frowned, it seemed he had gotten his hopes up too fast, he had hoped the fact that the gene skill was within the shackled realm wouldn’t affect their passage.
And now it seemed they wouldn’t know until they tried... and even then Uriel felt skeptical it would work.
The portal might not be stable enough to handle the passage of an awakened-rank evolver.
Not to talk about a whole army of one, he sighed, if only the old man was a little stronger.
Elder Lenny seemed to sense Uriel’s disappointment, yet he could only lower his head, understanding what Uriel was thinking.
He glanced at the others behind him and shook his head, their shoulders sagging.
Uriel frowned, pondering for a bit, he ordered, "Activate the ability first, let me see..."
The elder did not hesitate, but before he started, he requested the coordinates.
Uriel directly transferred the mental image of Elaine’s direction to the elder’s mind.
Due to the old man’s realm, doing that was pretty easy.
The elder took the information, gave himself some space, took a broken branch sitting by the corner and began to draw glyph imprints on the sand surface.
Uriel allowed the elder space, while also keeping an eye out for possible disruptions...
A low chant in an eerie ancient tongue began to echo from the elder, his sunken eyes beginning to glow with a runic shade.
The symbol he drew in a circular pattern began to ignite with an earthen cadence.
The abyssal essence in the air stilled, then, forcefully wrapped, was sucked straight into the glowing glyphs.
Spectating from the side, Uriel’s brows lifted slowly as his doubt of whether this portal could handle their passage began to fade...
Another variant... he acknowledged with a narrow glance.
Not just any variant at that but one with a space gate ability.
This guy would be an indispensable asset to the human race, his ability and status as a variant alone were enough to draw the attention of the likes of the president.
Uriel concluded this in silence while the elder was still busy, then his chest swelled and he barked a loud order.
"Everyone, gather! We are leaving now!"
His voice reverberated through the entire area, reaching Dorian at the front and Lucas at the rear.
His fist tightened on the reins, with this old man helping get Seth out of here and into somewhere safer, it shouldn’t be a challenge any longer...
Finally they would be going home soon.