Chapter 64: Reality or Dream?

Blood sprayed through the air.

The bird’s talons had caught his hand, its claws tearing through flesh before pinning his hand against the metallic surface.

Declan’s remaining hand immediately grabbed onto another metallic protrusion, preventing himself from falling, but his expression changed when he felt warm blood raining across his face.

He looked upward.

The mechanical bird had his right hand clamped within its monstrous beak, its metallic jaws slowly closing around it as flesh tore and bones cracked.

The bird swallowed what remained of his hand in several brutal gulps.

Declan stared at the sight, his breathing becoming ragged as horror flooded through him.

But the horror did not last, replaced by something much hotter.

Anger.

"DIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!"

The scream ripped from Declan’s throat as he twisted his body upward and surged into the air with his remaining hand.

He grabbed hold of a half-severed metallic protrusion and violently tore it from the surface of the giant hand before climbing upward.

SCREEEEEECHHHHH!

The bird noticed him immediately.

It finished swallowing the remaining flesh in its beak before folding its wings and shooting downward toward him.

Declan tightened his grip on the metal as the bird descended toward him, and he immediately launched himself forward, the two of them rushing toward each other with barely a meter separating them before they collided.

RIIIIIIIIIIIIP!

PUUCCCHI!

The bird’s metallic beak tore into Declan from beneath his chest, cutting diagonally through his body and continuing down toward his waist.

Blood burst from the wound like a broken tap.

"Grrrh..."

A low groan escaped Declan as pain ripped through him, but his teeth clenched harder instead of loosening.

His eyes were already completely red.

The veins across his arms bulged as he held the metallic protrusion with every ounce of strength remaining in his body.

DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEE!

With a furious roar, Declan brought the metal down with all his strength.

CLAAAANG!

PUUUUCCCHI!

The metallic weapon pierced through the gap between the bird’s neck and armor, tearing into its flesh and driving deep inside.

SCREEEEEECCCHHHHH!

A cry of agony erupted from the bird.

It thrashed violently, twisting its neck in an attempt to throw Declan away, but he refused to let go.

The violent movement eventually sent him flying through the air, but when he landed, he found himself directly on the bird’s back.

He immediately grabbed onto its wings, and although sharp metallic shards pierced through his remaining hand, Declan ignored the pain and held on even tighter.

Then he pulled.

The bird was forced higher into the sky, screaming in pain as it continued flying, its movements becoming increasingly erratic.

Its wings were no longer under proper control, and Declan quickly realized something.

By holding onto its right wing, he could influence its direction.

He immediately took advantage of it, forcing the wounded creature farther and farther away from the Mech Grave.

The bird continued struggling, the metallic protrusion still lodged in its neck as it flew wildly through the air.

Declan kept forcing it onward, pushing it farther and farther until, finally, the creature lost control completely, sending both of them plummeting from the sky.

BOOOOOOM!

They crashed into a metallic landscape below.

Declan slammed into the bird’s back before being thrown away by the impact, rolling several times across the ground until his body crashed into a jagged metallic rock.

BLEERRRGGGH!

Blood erupted from his mouth.

Before he could even recover, the rocks above him cracked apart and collapsed, one after another raining down and burying him beneath the rubble.

The mechanical bird staggered back to its feet.

Despite the metal still lodged deep within its neck, it turned its cold red eyes toward the surrounding area, searching for the human who had attacked it.

SCREEEEECHHHH!

It released an enraged cry, after finding nothing, eventually turning and disappearing into the distance.

For a while, silence returned, then,

CRAACCCK!

A faint cracking sound emerged from beneath the rubble.

A bloodied hand slowly pushed through the debris, two fingers missing entirely as blood dripped from the severed stumps.

Another groan followed as Declan forced another rock aside and dragged himself out from beneath the rubble, only to collapse halfway down the mound and land flat on his back.

One of his arms had been completely torn away from the shoulder.

A diagonal wound stretched from his chest all the way to his waist, exposing the glint of his intestines and liver beneath the torn flesh.

Anyone looking at him would have assumed he was already dead, yet somehow, he was still breathing, each breath coming slowly and harshly despite something feeling different.

The air no longer stung nearly as much, and Declan weakly turned his head before finally realizing why.

He had been carried far away from the Mech Grave.

The massive metallic structures were now distant behind him, while enormous metallic mountains surrounded the area where he had landed.

"I... survived."

The words barely escaped his lips.

His mouth opened slightly, reopening some of the wounds across his face as blood trickled down his skin.

Then the memory returned, his own arm being ripped apart, the flesh and bones exposed as he watched it happen right before his eyes.

His stomach twisted, and he nearly vomited, but exhaustion and pain had already numbed most of his senses.

His vision continued growing darker.

A pool of blood slowly formed beneath his body, soaking through his clothes, but Declan remained motionless.

If the system had answered him, he could have used the forty attribute points he still possessed to increase his strength and perhaps find some way to survive.

But the system remained silent, leaving him with nothing, no way to heal, no way to recover, and no way to get back up, only the need to endure. After all, the system had given him a single objective:

Survive the night.

And so Declan remained where he was, fighting for every remaining second of his life.

He controlled each breath carefully, never inhaling too deeply and worsening the pain, while keeping his movements as quiet as possible so he wouldn’t attract anything else lurking in the darkness.

That was how he endured, until eventually, the world faded completely into darkness.

____________________

GAASSSPS!

A sharp gasp tore through the room as Declan suddenly jerked upright, his eyes wide with horror.

His gaze immediately dropped to his hand.

It was still there.

He raised both hands, his fingers trembling slightly as he stared at them, before noticing the faint white mist escaping his lips.

He quickly pulled up his shirt and looked down at his stomach, only to find nothing there. There was no massive gash, no exposed organs, not even a scratch.

"A... a nightmare, huh?"

He muttered, slowly exhaling in relief.

Then,

BEEEP!

BEEEP!

BEEEP!

The sound of his device beeping came from beside him.

Declan turned toward it and saw the time flashing across the screen.

7:12

His expression changed.

"Wait, wasn’t class supposed to begin at 7:15!?"

He immediately jumped out of bed.

Within moments, he had rushed into the washroom, gotten himself ready in a blur, and dashed out of his room, disappearing down the corridor.

__________________

"When you think of Mech Modules," the instructor began, "think of the basics of man and what makes him the apex of his world."

"Humanity possesses intellect, of course, but that’s not the only thing that separates us."

"We also possess five opposable fingers. These hands allow us to create tools, manipulate them, and accomplish things that no other creature can."

"In today’s world, we have the Nexian, the apex of mankind."

"He retains that intelligence, but now he possesses something far more advanced than the human hand and that is a Mech Module."

"Compared to an ordinary human with nothing more than five digits, a Nexian equipped with a Core can operate tools that are far more advanced, giving him capabilities far beyond those of an ordinary human."

"These tools are not merely external extensions, either. They can be fully integrated into the Nexian’s body and powered directly by his internal Core."

"This, dear Nexians, is the foundation upon which all Mech Modules are built."

The instructor’s voice echoed throughout the glass-paneled classroom, and among the students sat one whose attention was firmly fixed on him.

Declan.

His brows were slightly furrowed as he listened, but his mind wasn’t entirely focused on the lecture.

’Was yesterday... really a nightmare?’

His gaze shifted toward the bold panel hovering before him.

[Congratulations on passing the mission: Survive A Night in the Illumino Mech Grave!]

[Rewards:]

[+10% Creation Fusion With The Mecha Overlord Mech Module.]

[+1 Base Fusion With an Darkthar Mech Module.]

They were the exact same missions he had received in that nightmare, and now they were appearing before him in reality.

But he had also been wounded in the nightmare, yet when he had woken up that morning, there hadn’t been a single injury on his body.

There was no sign whatsoever that he had ever been attacked, let alone suffered the horrific wounds he remembered.

But the experience had felt far too real.

’Just what was that?" Declan muttered, running his fingers through his hair. "And where exactly was that place?’

Now that he knew it had actually happened, the memories of that night were far more disturbing than he had initially thought.

"You! Yes, you!"

The instructor’s voice suddenly cut through his thoughts, and the classroom fell quiet.

Declan stopped tugging at his hair and raised his head, only to find the instructor pointing directly in his direction.

’Is...Is he pointing at me?’