BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM

1118  The flock (3)

"Well, it depends. If you fly, you can basically turn as deadly as a flying thaid," Amber said.

"Yes, but if they have someone able to neutralize that advantage, nothing will change. The blackguards had recruited talented fighters and rare brain crystal powers for decades. They are bound to have the weirdest and most powerful brain crystal powers."

"Whatever," Mira said. "Without knowing what we are going to find, it is useless to think about it."

"I don't think so," Emily said. "Isn't it better to be prepared?"

"True, but preparation is only useful if we can predict outcomes or anticipate what we'll encounter. Given our current situation, we could find almost anything on Maynard Island. It's simply not possible to prepare for every scenario."

The conversation went on for a while.

"Regardless, I will ask the Chimaeric's Demon's help if things push to shove. They might not have powerful brain crystal powers yet, but their bodies are as powerful as mine, so they will at least create some trouble. You might be needed to do the same. If Emily had been able to kill Uncle Benjamin, I bet she should be able to take care of the others while I keep them distracted."

"That's if the clones, or us, will be able to help," Mira said, her voice tinged with skepticism. "We can't assume our ability to do so will remain unaffected."

"Did you really have to be so negative, Mira?" Emily said. "We need to maintain some optimism."

"Negativity made me survive until now," Mira said. "It's not pessimism; it's pragmatism. Besides, I'm actually doing what you say. Consider all possibilities, even the unpleasant ones."

Amber looked at Erik, her expression thoughtful, but whatever was on her mind, it was serious.

"Say. If we really find dozens of Vindicators, what should you be able to do?" She asked Erik.

"If the clones help me, I should be able to stall them. Maybe kill a few if the clones help, but I don't think I will be able to do more than that if they are as powerful as Levium."

He paused.

"I got 21 levels. I used all the attribute points to pump up my energy stat. I got almost at 1500 energy points... It should help somehow."

"Meaning?"

"It means I have more mana, and more mana means more raw power and more battle time. The most important thing, though, is to kill the foot soldiers. If during the fight this happens, I should be able to make the fight last longer by replenishing my mana."

"Let's hope they won't be, then." Amber said.

Erik's gaze swept over his companions, resolve in his eyes. "That's what we're about to find out."

Hours passed as they soared over the vast expanse of ocean separating Hin from Maynard Island. The monotony of the flight was broken by occasional adjustments to their formation and brief communication checks between Erik and the Chimaeric Demons.

But the journey lasted for a while. Maynard Island was closer than Mur, but it wasn't that close. This wasn't just a couple of hours' journey, and the thaids' presence made the time needed to reach the island stretch. In fact, attacks hadn't been infrequent. Various races of Thaids were along the way, each more bizarre than the last, but all hell-bent on killing Erik and the rest of the group.

Besides, they weren't experts about sea thaids or any of the creatures that usually flew over and lived near the vast stretch of blue water, especially not those in this part of the world.

15:38

Some of these thaids were completely new to them, and they didn't even know their names or abilities.

It was even possible no one had ever seen or studied these creatures before. The ocean was vast and mysterious, hiding all sorts of unknown life forms beneath its waves and in the skies above it.

As they flew, Erik and his companions encountered many thaids. Some resembled flying serpents, while others looked like floating jellyfish. Some thaids even had camouflage abilities.

Then there were the Aeropelicans, as the system called them, some of these strange thaids. They had huge wings that stretched out wide, making them look huge in the sky.

Their beaks were long and pointy, filled with lots of sharp teeth that could easily tear through flesh.

They flew in groups, making loud screeching noises that echoed across the ocean. The system said it was more likely a way for them to communicate and to keep rival thaid races away from them. The screeches were awful, after all, resembling a screaming woman. It even gave Erik the chills.

Despite this, Erik and the clones were too strong for them, and they got killed quickly.

These weren't the only thaids they encountered. There were also swarms of Chiropterayfish, creatures with the body of what the system called manta rays and the echolocation abilities of bats. Despite being like sea thaids, they were flying ones.

It was weird seeing them in the sky, but Erik knew too little about thaids around these parts that he didn't think about it much.

One thing was clear, though: based on what humanity knew, thaids resulted from the evolution of ancient animals, but the system just gave him enough information to think some might have also been the result of different species crossbreeding.

The biological supercomputer got a database of them. That was why it talked about the ancient animals when describing the creatures to Erik in its analysis of power.

Not that it mattered.

Luckily, no thaid from Mur approached them. At that point, considering his usual awful luck, Erik wondered why.

<I expected the devil himself coming at me... Somehow I've been lucky enough for something I couldn't manage finding me.>

But that was most likely going to happen at the end of the day, or so Erik thought, because Maynard Island housed something scarier than any thaid in the world: humans.

<How long until we arrive?> Erik asked a Chimaeric Demon.

Many hours had already passed, and the sky was starting to fall below the horizon.

<Four hours at least…> The clone said.

<Let's see if we can find a place to rest for a couple of hours. I don't want for you to fight after almost 12 hours of flight.>

<Yes, sir.>