I Hate Systems

"It's done!" Grisha informed through telepathy, watching a rope enter the cave. She swallowed a pearl, condensing the creature that she named the 'Leech Hunter', making it swallow its own corpse.

She then grabbed hold of the rope, watching her being lifted out of the cave, noticing a group of leeches surrounding the hole. Once she exited the hole, they tried to latch onto her but Compass Carburettor had already activated Directional Misalignment to prevent them from attacking her.

Once she was pulled high up, he grabbed hold of her and flew away, "Where do you want to go next?"

"Home!" Grisha replied, tired.

"What about…" He asked, hesitant to ask about her mother.

"It's a waste of time," Grisha muttered coldly, "I know her very well. She had fainted for a day after seeing a cockroach once. I know for sure that she isn't alive. Because, when you were on Mount Craire, while the cell reception still worked fine, I had called her. But, she hadn't picked up her phone, whether it was her business or her personal number."

"But, it'll still weigh on your mind, right?" Compass Carburettor asked, "Since I can fly…"

"No, I just don't wish to see her corpse. That's all." She sighed, "I don't think I can handle that. I have thought about the possibility of her death in every loop. Even though that is scary, since I hadn't seen her corpse, I still maintained some hope."

"Fine," He nodded, not pressing on the issue further. After all, what she said was likely the truth. She was the most knowledgeable about her mother.

And, he too was aware that those who lived in content in the previous society and were rather well off wouldn't be able to adapt to an apocalypse. After all, they were used to and enjoyed the previous society.

Only those fed up with that society would adapt faster to the apocalypse.

And since it seemed like Grisha's mother belonged to the former, by the time she managed to adapt, she would be long dead.

He didn't bring up the topic after that, asking, "What ability did you obtain?"

"I'll show you after we reach home." She smiled, putting on an air of mystery.

"Haha, alright." He laughed, continuing to fly towards their home, reaching it after a couple of hours of travel.

Once they landed, Grisha first rushed into the bathroom to take a long, comfortable bath, only exiting after a good hour had passed.

"I'll prepare dinner now," She said, walking towards the kitchen, "Take a bath in the meantime."

"Alright," Compass Carburettor took a bath. He had already replenished their water tank with the water generated by the Vitality Bowl. So, they had no problem with water.

As for electricity, it had long since been cut off. But, there was still a solar panel on the roof that provided them with a bit of electricity, at least enough for the light and fan in one room.

So, they were still able to have comfortable lives even in the apocalypse.

Once he arrived at the dining room, the aroma of dinner intoxicated him. "Wow, did you cook a feast?"

"Pretty much," Grisha laughed, "I can obtain any food ingredient in liquid format. So, I just used that to our advantage. Even sauce and cheese are possible."

They had a sumptuous meal after that as they cleaned out everything. The cobra too had joined them, swallowing its portions before retreating to its spot under the bed to rest.

"Lazy glutton…" Grisha muttered after gazing at it, asking after a moment of thought, "Where did you find it?"

"On Mount Craire," Compass Carburettor replied, talking about the incident that happened with Neena, leading to the choice he made when he discovered this cobra coincidentally.

Once they finished eating dinner, they arrived at the roof. Upon his summons, the cobra too slithered to the roof when Grisha grinned at it, "Blast your breath attack on me."

"You sure? My breath attack is pretty strong." The cobra replied through telepathy. The conversation passed through Compass Carburettor before being received by the receptor. So, he was able to hear everything they conversed.

"Let's see you talk about that after this." Grisha grinned, swallowing a pearl as she summoned her ability, condensing a helmet that seemed futuristic at first glance.

It had a sleek design, fully covering her head. But from the looks of it, it was a one-way transparent substance, allowing Grisha to look at things normally, just like how her field of vision was without the helmet.

"Here it comes!" The cobra said before opening its mouth to unleash a breath attack. It was a simple gust, like wind, but only consisted of forcefields that slammed into Grisha.

But, they didn't make contact, vanishing when they hit her.

Not even a single strand of her hair was affected by the breath attack as half of her helmet lit up.

"Go on, try it again." She taunted the cobra.

"Humph!" Triggered, the cobra unleashed another breath attack, stupefied when it too vanished just like before.

Now, Grisha's helmet was completely lit up as she spoke, "This is my ability."

She snapped her finger when half her helmet lost its radiance.

On the road farther away was a group of ants that were swarming the grass, engaging in a bitter fight as both parties tore into each other.

Suddenly, a sphere of wind appeared in their midst, spanning less than a centimetre in diameter before expanding rapidly. It was a shockwave, erupting like an explosion with the damage radius being a metre.

Everything within the range was obliterated as a crater formed on the road.

Smiling in response, Grisha snapped her finger once again, this time forming the shockwave in another area. But, the blast radius was even larger. Though, the resultant crater was smaller as the shockwaves were more dispersed in the larger area.

A couple of seconds later, a gust of wind swirled around the two impact places due to the developed low pressure, forming a minor twister that vanished after five seconds.

"In that loop, when I reached Stage 6, I was able to walk through a sea of mutated beasts, absorbing their breath attacks to fuel my attacks. This way, I was pretty much uninjured throughout the battle." Grisha smiled, "And, since this is a helmet, I'm able to control this ability the highest, allowing me to use it in varying situations and possibilities."

"This is the most versatile ability in this world."