Apocalypse: The Ice King Returned

Chapter 22: Clark

"Clark?" Luther wondered if he had heard that name before.

Then he saw that Luther had stopped pestering him with questions, Clark leaned over to Constance and whispered, pointing at her brother, "Is your boyfriend okay, honey? I mean, talking about superpowers? I’m sure he just watches too many movies."

Constance looked at him and explained what having these powers was like. Then she held out her hand. In her palm, she formed a fireball to show Clark that this power was real.

At seeing this, the young man was in awe.

"Oh my god, that's amazing. How do you do that? Can I do that too?" Clark asked frantically.

Luther watched as the man spoke with his sister, he thought to himself, "Is he the Battlereaper? He doesn't seem to be the most powerful Erazer. How could he be the Battlereaper of Agito who woke up ten years after doomsday? No, it can’t be him. He has a different name. I must be wrong. "

Clark was naturally engaging with people, so he quickly became close to Constance. Luther listened to their conversation and learned that Clark loved adventure. He was here to find the treasure for his girlfriend.

Hearing this, Luther found Clark was very peculiar.

So did Constance. She said with a smile, "You’re searching for treasure in the mountains out here? That's crazy. God bless you."

However, Clark proudly replied, "God did bless me, though. I happened to fall into a cave earlier, and I found a beautiful gem."

His reply left Constance dumbfounded, and she muttered, "I guess even an i***t can get lucky."

Luther suddenly understood how Clark got his power.

Seeing that Constance had fallen silent, Clark took a bite of wild vegetables and turned to Luther excitedly, "Hey! You said I have powers. Do you know what they are?"

Luther explained, "You’re skilled in tactical combat. But for anything else, you’ll need to figure that out for yourself. All I did was test your reflexes. If I had to guess, you may have some kind of abnormal adaptation?"

"Abnormal adaptation?"

"Yes. A very powerful one. It seems you are very highly skilled at evading incoming attacks, and you can learn patterns to help you adapt."

"But you have to learn how to control it. I went a little easy on you back there. And I was still able to tear your clothing. If you were in a real fight, you wouldn’t have come out of it alive. But you can get better with practice and training.”

Luther paused to see how Clark would react to all of this. He simply sat still and listened, so Luther continued, "But...that all depends on your attitude. So far, you seem cocky and uncoordinated. I don’t think you would train well."

"Hey, don’t talk down to me. You speak so high and mighty, I’m sure you’re just as arrogant as me." Clark responded. He then turned to face Constance, and asked her, "So, what's ‘doomsday?’"

"There are catastrophic crises that occur on doomsday. Mutations in animals and viruses spreading among humans. We’ve encountered infected people—zombies, really—and beasts you can’t even imagine."

Clark took another bite and nodded, "That explains a lot. Yesterday, I ran into a monster that looked like it was once a wolf. But it was so much bigger and uglier. That’s why I hid in a tree all night. Now I know it was another mutant. I didn’t know I’d find that treasure, or learn all of these things while I was up on this mountain. If I hadn’t met you, I might have run into something worse than that wolf, and I wouldn’t have known any of that. Thank you for telling me all of this." Clark brushed his fingers through his hair as he spoke.

"Well, you were lucky you didn’t run into a pack of them. The whole world is in danger now. What are you going to do next?" Luther piped in.

Deep down, Luther admired Clark's power. He believed that with his training, this young man could become a real-life post-war Battlereaper. He knew the man was cocky but he had a certain charm that reminded Luther that there might be some hope after all.

But Clark did not answer him. He was thinking deeply about the state that humans were turning into after they became infected, then he asked, "Wait, this doomsday that you mentioned…this is world-wide? Not just here?”

Luther nodded.

He noticed that Clark had become quiet. The humor in his face had been replaced with a grim expression. He stopped eating. "Thank you for the meal. My girlfriend is still in East Ridge. I have to go save her." And just like that, he disappeared into the forest.

Luther was shocked, then began to think further about this. He asked Constance, "Is he from East Ridge?"

Constance nodded. Luther said, "Then he must know the area well. He can help us. We should follow him."

Luther grabbed his backpack and chased after Clark.

However, before he got very far, Clark had already turned around to meet them. "Forget something?"

But as he looked behind him, he noticed a Bronze II wolf not far behind him.

What the hell was he doing? He left to save his girlfriend, and now he’s leading a mutant wolf right to them.

As soon as Clark was close enough, he hid behind Luther. Luther pulled out his sword and shook his head. No, Clark was not the Battlereaper. He even saw the humor in ever believing that he could be. The Battlereaper was one of the world's most powerful beings. To imagine someone as timid as Clark becoming one was especially funny.

Without leaving time for Luther to think, the beast with sparse hair and a pungent smell had caught up.

Clark, behind Luther, covered his face in fear. But Luther was very calm. When he left Cedar Creek, he brought with him the power core of the Bronze IV mutant pig. He ate it on the road, and it quickly boosted Luther up to a Bronze IV himself.

His water power was strengthened, and his body and agility was now 2.5 times better than an ordinary man. A bronze II mutant did not pose much of a threat to him.

Luther didn't even use his power. He simply stared the beast down. When the mutant wolf about six feet away from him, he took a step forward, holding the sword in both hands and lifting it up. The wolf was suddenly split in two, and blood splattered from its body.

Luther made sure to duck under the spray, but Clark, who was hiding behind him, was not so lucky. The blood hit him in his face and down his clothes.

"What the hell!"

Clark gasped and wiped the blood from his face.

Constance couldn’t contain herself at the sight and rolled her eyes, "Are you sure his powers are any good? He’s acting like a child now."

Luther shrugged.