Twenty-Two

The explosion ripped through the hall, pulverizing them in a concussive blast that threatened to throw them to the ground before the screaming wind slammed them back against the bulkhead. A howling gale that snatched everything out as it raced out of the shuttle as if it was searching for freedom.

Then it was gone, nearly as fast as it had started, silence pressing against them as they stood still pressed against the bulkhead. Kon's breathing was hard, the pain of the decompression making its presence known.

"Ow."

"Agreed," Diur said as she pulled herself off of the bulkhead and looked around at where the rift was. Kon followed her example even as his body screamed at him from the abuse.

"Don't set off explosives in enclosed areas again," Kon muttered. Diur simply nodded in agreement as they looked over to see the oozes still firmly attached to the ground where they had been when the explosive detonated.

They had flash frozen as what warmth had been in the station had been consumed by the ever waiting icy grips of space. Each one of the small creatures had frosted at the edges, the remnants of their last meals frozen in place. Kon walked over to the first of them, pulling his mace from his belt before leaning over and tapping the creature. It split with ease, shattering into a half dozen pieces that scattered about. He shuffled through the remnants before pulling out the core, bits of frozen ooze still on it. They broke off with ease, his fingers brushing them free until only the core was left.

"Can cores be broken?" Kon asked, bouncing the stone facsimile in his palm before storing it.

"Yes but it is hard. It's pure energy given form. The container can be cracked but the results can be rather hard to predict. There are rumors that it can be explosive, or other times it just fades away into the atmosphere. Who knows which way it will go," Diur said as she stomped another slime, breaking it apart. The two of them worked their way around the edge of the hallway, breaking open the oozes and harvesting the cores, staying away from the rift.

Now that they were exposed to space, Kon could see a slowly emerging fog that froze the moment it entered the room, crystallizing as it was propelled further into the room. His always present curiosity came to life as he finished his section, looking at the rift with a desire to venture forth.

"Think we can just poke our heads in?" Kon asked, gripping his mace tightly.

"And fight more oozes? In their territory? We need a better loadout and I don't wish to close this rift. It keeps emitting E-Grade density energy that I can cultivate," Diur said as she gathered the last of the cores. Kon sighed in agreement and signaled Benny.

"Benny, we've cleared everything. Rifts are free and open to work on, all monsters killed."

"Excellent. Now find a way to meet me without decompressing the entire station," Benny said, a marker point appearing on their maps. He was on the opposite side of the facility, closer to the Puca than they were currently. Kon closed their line and went back to look at the gaping hole they'd blasted in the side of the facility.

The edges were ragged, spears pointing outward where the force of the blast had forced the splinters of steel to aim outward. Stars twinkled out there, thousands of glittering gems spaced out across his view. Streaks of light raced across his vision while a planet sat, big as a marble, swirling blues and grays in the distance. Kon's chest caught as he stared at it, the terrible vastness that hammered home how small he was, how great the rest of the galaxy was.

"It's gorgeous," Diur said as she came to stand next to him, still several feet away from the edge.

"Yeah, I don't think I've ever really looked, not like this," Kon said as they stood there observing the system they were in. For long minutes they stood there, simply observing the great expanse before Kon had a random thought.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Aren't we exposed to a ton of radiation right now?"

"Undoubtedly. The suits will help prevent some of it and your cultivation will keep the rest from becoming a concern. We still probably shouldn't stand here without some type of shielding," Diur said, the moment enough to break them both free as they turned and retreated back the way they had come.

Opening the door they had sealed required a bit of effort as the moment the seal was cracked they had to deal with air rushing past them. Kon dug his fingers into the doorframe and held on till the next section of hall had emptied of air. After that they quickly entered it, resealing the door to the best of their abilities and then starting the process all over with the next sealed passage.

The air pressure quickly equalized and they were soon moving without having to deal with explosive gusts of air trying to throw them around. Neither of them bothered to speak as they worked their way toward Benny. Nothing had really changed in the station in the few minutes that they'd been gone and the trip took only a few minutes to reach the old man.

"Is this a cafeteria?" Kon asked as they walked into the long room, a dozen long tables stretched from wall to wall with seats scattered everywhere. Benny was laying down on one of the tables, looking up at the ceiling and not moving.

"I think so. There's some sort of food processor behind the doors," Benny said, pointing a finger over at a wall that had a single slot in it.

"Station is clear," Kon said as the two of them sat down one table away from Benny.

"Only had to blow up half of it to clear it too," Benny said with a cackle as he sat up and looked them up and down. Kon could feel his stomach sinking as their mentor let the silence stretch.

"What'd we do wrong?" Diur asked. Benny slapped his hands against the table and bolted upright and began to pace in the space between tables with his hands clasped behind him.

"Where didn't you go wrong?" Benny said and Kon's sinking feeling increased in both depth and speed.

"Let's see…hmmm…how about splitting up?" Benny looked at Kon as he said it.

"It wasn't on purpose. I got dragged down in an ambush by monsters," Kon defended himself.

"Allowing yourself to get ambushed," Benny continued on like Kon hadn't spoken. Kon sat down and let the old man go over everything they'd failed to do. The more he spoke the more Kon came to the realization that their helmets were nowhere near as private as he had thought. When Benny criticized Kon on one of his particular combinations, he finally had enough.

"Are you spying on us?" Kon blurted, heat in his gut as the old man finally stopped and looked at him, cocking his head to the side in apparent confusion.

"Of course I am." Then Benny went back to dissecting their performance. Diur got her own verbal thrashing, primarily around her failure to think about how to kill F-Grade beasts without exhausting herself. Finally he wound down, slowing his pacing to look at them again.

"Then we get to your final mistake. You blew up the space facility we're in to kill slimes. A drastic overreaction to a rather weak foe."

"How would you have completed your mission?" Kon asked, not definitely, but curiously. Benny's goals had always been apparent and clear, the old man was there to teach them to use their heads as well as their martial skill and brawn.

"I would have asked my mentor if he had anything on his ship that could kill slimes without making a mess. Then I would know that he has a fast freeze solution with a pressurized sprayer in his armory. And then I wouldn't have had to blow up the upper levels of a facility," Benny said. Kon groaned and lowered his head.

"HEY! None of that. You're alive, so is Diur. That's all that matters at the end of the day. You are alive and can learn from this. That's the point of this. Now, that this is over I want full fleshed out reports on what went wrong and how to prevent it from happening again," Benny said.

"Yes, Benny!" Kon and Diur shouted together. Benny sighed and sat down heavily on his seat and touched a button, his helmet becoming translucent. His eyes met theirs, even through their tinted helmets.

"Have you figured out which rune fragment you want?" Benny asked. Kon froze as he thought over everything that Benny had been teaching them and felt a smile crack his face.

"I haven't yet. But I'd like to ask you what you would do?" Kon said. He was rewarded with a matching smile and Benny's bellowing laughter.

"You're getting it boyo. Yes, I have a few ideas about what to do. Let's get back to the Puca and sit down and really process this now that you have your cores needed. Might need to figure out Diur's body cultivation as well," Benny said, standing and leading them back to the ship.

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