Mad Hatter's Guide to Clearing The Game
Chapter 99: Ch97. Pain as a teacher (21) - The thing that shouldn’t be

Chapter 99: Ch97. Pain as a teacher (21) - The thing that shouldn’t be

Miles exhaled slowly, rolling his shoulders as he followed Kurt across the cracked, metal-strewn expanse of the ruined structure. The weight of the last battle still lingered in his body, but the faint hum of the etheric tea’s miraculous recovery left behind a new awareness – a sharpness to his senses he had not noticed before – along with the healing and strengthening effects.

Kurt walked ahead of him, hands tucked lazily into the pockets of his long coat, his movements casual but never careless. Even now, Miles could tell that Kurt was always aware of his surroundings, always scanning, always ready. It was not just confidence. It was survival instinct.

Always looking over his shoulder...

"You’re keeping up better than I thought," Kurt mused without looking back. "Guess that tea wasn’t total garbage after all."

"Oh, you mean the tea that kept me from keeling over and turning into one of those things? Yeah, real garbage." Miles rolled his eyes.

Kurt smirked but didn’t argue.

They continued through the wreckage, stepping over rusted-out hulls of what might’ve once been transport vehicles or parts of an ancient war machine. The air smelled of burnt metal and something older, something almost organic beneath the decay of civilization. The blue veins of energy that pulsed faintly in the walls stretched deeper into the structure, growing more concentrated.

"How much do you actually know about this place?" Miles asked after a while. "Like, really know?"

"I know enough to stay alive." Kurt chuckled.

"That’s not an answer."

"It’s the best one you’re going to get."

’Asshole...’ Miles frowned, but didn’t push further. Instead, he focused on the path ahead, on the way the structure twisted in ways that didn’t quite make sense. It was ancient, but it wasn’t dead. The deeper they went, the more he felt it, the same sensation as before.

Like something was watching.

"So, what’s the plan?" Miles raised his brow. "More training?"

"Yeah. I need to see what you can actually do, beyond just flailing a blade around." Kurt slowed his pace.

"I don’t flail-"

Kurt abruptly spun and flicked a knife at Miles’ head.

Miles barely had time to react. His instincts screamed at him, and he twisted, jerking to the side just in time for the blade to skim past his ear, embedding itself in the wall behind him. Just a second later, Miles felt the slight trickle of blood leaving a warm trail down his ear.

His heart pounded.

"What the fuck, man?!"

"Good reflexes." Kurt grinned. "But not good enough."

"Was that even necessary?!" Miles scowled.

"Yep." Kurt strolled forward, yanking the knife from the wall. "Lesson three of surviving here... If you’re expecting a fair fight, you’re already dead."

"As if I didn’t know it from the fights back where I come from..." Miles exhaled sharply, forcing himself to relax. He was not going to win against Kurt in an argument.

"Fine," he muttered. "What now?"

Kurt tilted his head toward an open area up ahead.

"Now that we found a quiet enough place, we spar."

The floor widened into a jagged, uneven battlefield, littered with debris and rusted pillars. The perfect place for a fight.

Miles set his stance, summoning his scythe from his inventory.

"Rules?"

"Don’t die." Kurt smirked.

Then, he vanished.

Miles barely had time to register the movement before Kurt was already on him.

There was a brief flash of steel, and Miles ducked, twisting away just as a knife grazed his ribs. He retaliated, swinging his scythe in a sweeping arc, but Kurt was gone before the blade even finished its motion.

"Too slow."

Miles whirled, eyes scanning. Kurt was not teleporting, but Miles already knew that.

The thing was that he moved like he was, his momentum carrying him in unpredictable, fluid bursts. Miles gritted his teeth and braced himself.

’If only I could perceive his movements, I’d be able to learn how to do that...’

Kurt came again, this time from his left. Miles reacted, shifting his grip and slamming the blunt end of his scythe into the ground. The force propelled him upward just in time to avoid another knife swipe. As he twisted mid-air, he flicked the blade downward, but Kurt sidestepped at the last second.

Still, a few strands of his coat tore from the near miss.

Miles landed in a crouch, panting slightly, eyes locked onto his opponent.

"Better." Kurt grinned.

But before Miles could reply, something shifted.

A low, distorted groan echoed through the ruins. The air thickened, growing heavy with an unnatural presence. Miles felt it in his bones before he saw it.

Kurt froze. His grin vanished.

"Shit."

Miles turned, following his gaze toward a corridor at the far end of the battlefield, and there it was.

A Revenant.

But not like the ones before.

This one was wrong.

Its body was barely humanoid, its form twisted and elongated, as though it had melted and reformed over and over. Its face, if it could be called that, was a hollow void, with no features, only the remnants of what might have once been a helmet fused into its skull. Its arms dragged along the floor, clawed and segmented like a centipede’s legs, twitching unnaturally.

But the worst part was not its appearance, it was the feeling it gave off.

The instant Miles saw it, his stomach dropped.

’It’s strong.’

"What the fuck is it doing here...?" Kurt cursed under his breath.

"What do you mean?" Miles tensed.

Kurt didn’t answer, because the Revenant turned its head toward them. Slow, deliberate.

And then it moved.

Faster than anything Miles had ever seen.

Kurt reacted first, shoving Miles backward just as the creature lunged. A massive clawed limb slammed into the ground where Miles had been standing moments ago, sending a shockwave through the ruins.

Miles rolled, scrambling to his feet. His pulse pounded in his ears.

No time to think. No time to process.

They were in a fight.

Kurt was already moving, knives flashing as he struck at the creature’s side. The blades cut deep, but the Revenant barely reacted. It twisted, limbs elongating unnaturally as it lashed out.

Miles moved. His scythe spun in his hands, and he went for the legs. If they could knock it off balance...

The blade bounced off as soon as the hit landed.

Miles’ eyes widened. The impact rattled up his arms like he had just struck solid steel.

"What in the major-"

The Revenant hissed, a sound like static, like voices layered over each other, broken and distorted. Then, it lunged again.

Kurt shoved off a rusted pillar, barely dodging, but the creature anticipated it. One of its many limbs snapped outward, striking him mid-air, making Kurt crash into the far wall.

Miles didn’t even have time to register the shock before the Revenant turned to him.

It came fast, limbs stretching like whips. Miles barely managed to duck the first swipe, rolling beneath the second. His scythe spun, slicing upward, and the Revenant dodged. Effortlessly.

Miles’ heart pounded, the thing was not just attacking. It was watching. Studying.

It was toying with them.

Kurt groaned, staggering back to his feet. Blood dripped from his forehead, but his eyes were sharp.

"We need to go. Now!"

Miles tightened his grip on his scythe, sweat dripping down his brow.

It was too late for that. The Revenant blocked the exit from where they came, standing like an indescribable guard at the passage.

"Shit!" Kurt’s jaw tightened. "Then we fight."

Miles swallowed, feeling his adrenaline surging.

It was life or death, just like in the previous battles, but...

"You are not... Going anywhere." The thing said, its voice sending shivers down Miles’ spine.

"Did that thing just-"

"Yeah." Kurt cut Miles mid-sentence.

That thing was intelligent.