Solo Cultivation in The Apocalypse

The destination still seemed too far from the stairs in the middle of the ground and first floor. But one thing was a relief– they were not sending robots anymore. Wait, who sent them anyway? They came of their own, maybe, or there is a Robo Master that is specially designed to look after the robots.

"Why can we not just teleport to the other side?" Reon asked. She should know the answer though, considering the number of times she has fainted due to mana drain– basically, over usage of mana.

"Because we do not have unlimited mana," Kakashi replied from behind. "And we need to use the portal magic which is a pain in the—"

"Beep, beep, Himbo," Eya said, "we have others who can teleport all of us to the storage room."

At that, even Akira frowned. "Then why are we not—"

Eya turned to him with a smile on her face. Since she was not holding the shield anymore, she could show her wide, graceful smile. "Because we do not want anyone to lose their mana. Everyone is an important part of this operation– but if one faints, he will become a liability to others.

"We have too much to protect ourselves from, why do we need another liability?" she said.

Hitori nodded to himself after hearing Eya's convincing explanation– he already know though, why they were not teleporting. Then he searched for the storage room. It was out of his sight, all he saw was the silent hallway down the ground floor. The storage room was far from there.

"But looks like we would need to teleport this time0." Kyo's sudden declaration surprised Hitori more than it had surprised Eya.

"What are you saying, old man?"

"I mean, take a look. We can not pass that mess."

By mess, he meant the wooden logs, metal rods, pieces of glass, burned stairs, and wooden splinters.

"With the robots up our—," he paused, then changed his sentence to, "with the robots behind us, we can not cross that mess so easily."

"Then what do you suggest? Use teleportation? What if the danger pursues—"

"I say we get as close to the storage room as we can and then teleport. That will save us at least a little mouth of mana, better than saving nothing," Reon suggested.

"Sure, but where are the robots?" Kyo asked. "We can not take the risk of just charging in without knowing where our enemies are and what they are planning."

Hitori lifted his head and searched for CCTVs. He saw one downstairs, then one upstairs. But none of them could get them. The cameras that could get them were destroyed or exploded.

"As far as I know, they can not see us," Hitori said, "so we are equal."

"But they have more ammo than we do," Reon said.

"We do not have the ammo, but we sure have this," Eya said as she raised her hands and planted a shield in front of them. "Now get going.

Hitori stopped to consider, but Kyo did not. He charged down the stairs. Hitori had to follow them, then everybody followed.

Hitori continued looking on the sides, and when they reached the first floor, he became more anxious than ever. For a moment, he wanted to stop and go back. Or directly teleport to the storage room. If everyone teleports individually, it would not be much, right?

He could not find the will to propose the concept of individual teleportation, because he found himself running down the stairs to the ground floor, the next moment.

"Slow down now," Kyo said, "we are approaching the ground floor, no way these bastards will let us pass without at least trying to blow us to pieces."

It was true. No trouble after the second floor, they were cooking something for them– perhaps cooking a tub filled with hydrofluoric acid, ready to dissolve their bodies– Hitori did not know the punishments for criminal activities on this side. Heck, he did not even know the punishments on his side. And it was not a good time to ask Reon about that.

Kyoryu stopped near the mask basket beside the ground floor staircase. Hitori stopped right behind him, glanced behind, then looked straight at the calm hallway.

There it was– that storage room in the dark, in the looming darkness. They just had to make a run for it and they would reach— wait, why run when you can 'fly'?

"We should teleport from here," Hitori suggested.

"It would be better to walk if we can…" Kyo muttered as he peeked his head to take a look at the plaza. He suddenly jumped back. With his hand on his chest, he started panting.

"What happened?" Hitori asked. Kyo glanced at him, then slid towards him, proposing Hitori shift places and take a look himself.

Hitori hesitated at first as he did not get the idea. But when Kyo eyed him to take his place, Hitori shifted to the corner of the staircase wall. Then he threw his head out.

He gasped, an audible gasp, then sprung back. "No shit! They are all lined up. T-They are lined up… crap. Oh crap." Hitori covered his mouth.

"W-What do they have?" Akira asked.

"Machine guns. Rifles. Grenades."

"A-And how many robots are they?" Reon raised the question to which Hitori stayed silent.

He gulped then answered, "Around twenty. And… they are not robots. These guards are humans. Real humans."

Reon's gasped, her breath stuck in her throat. "No way… I know what they are, I know—"

"What are they?" Eya asked.

Reon glanced at her and said, "The Special Ops. They take matters above the brutal strength of robots. Unlike the Killing Machines, Special Ops have both intelligence and strength. If they are called, that means we are in pretty deep SHIT."

"Alright. We will teleport from here. This distance should be perfect," Kyo declared.

Now Hitori gathered the courage to propose his idea: "How about individual teleportation? We all know where we have to go…"

Kyo turned to him for considering that idea Akira picked a call on his wand. "Hm… nice idea—"

"Guys!" Akira burs, "It is Atama-sensei," he said, "he wants to see us."

"Yeah, so we will, why do you need to shout!" Kakashi shouted behind him.

Now both shoes had attracted Special Ops' attention., just a moment before they cocked their guns and reeled the cartridges.

"Because he says we are in danger!"

"Shut up, you two!" Kyo shouted, then the firing started.

Hitori covered his head when he saw bullets piercing the wall on the right side. "This would not work," he muttered. He glanced at Reon, she was covering her head.

He grabbed her hand, she looked at him. "Share your mana," he said.

Without knowing what was happening, she nodded, only to realize later what he meant.

Hitori closed his eyes and pictured the dark storage room. Teleportation is not a choice of your mind, it is the choice of your heart.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself staring back at Kyoryu… just from the other side.