Apocalypse: The Ice King Returned

Chapter 21: A Stranger in the Woods

Luther became alert and stood up. Under a nearby tree was a young man in his twenties wearing a sports suit. He was clutching the side of his waist in pain.

Luther was puzzled by this, unsure of where the man had come from.

He had checked their surroundings carefully. He was very skilled and keeping a safe perimeter wherever he went, but even with all his years of practice, he did not see this young man.

Where had he hidden? Was he a fellow Erazer? A stronger one?

"Hey, bro. When I woke up, I fell out of a tree. Could you help me out?"

Fell from the tree?

Luther looked up at the leaves still falling from the tree above the man, then looked back at the young man with a perplexed expression on his face.

Even in a million years, this kid was not a stronger Erazer. He’s just a guy who slept in a tree.

Although there weren’t many beasts in the forest around them, the infected still could have made it out here into the wilderness. But this guy could sleep through everything that’s happened, in a tree no less? What a strange young man.

Luther almost felt embarrassed that he first wondered if the man was a superior Erazer.

False alarm. Once he helped the man to calm back down, Luther went on to eat his meal.

Constance sat down to eat, too. But she casually glanced back at the young guy and thought his outfit was very strange.

After a while, the guy's waist seemed to be better. He didn’t clutch it so much and he only groaned when he moved. Once he felt well enough, he walked over to Luther. He said with a grin, "Hey, I’m sorry about that. My name is Clark, by the way. Thank you for helping me."

When he saw the food, his eyes twinkled. "This looks so great, I haven't had a good meal for a few days. It looks delicious. I'd like to try some if you wouldn’t mind."

When Luther nodded at him, he took a bowl and filled it with vegetables.

Constance wanted to say something but was interrupted by the metallic sound of a sword being unsheathed. A blue light flashed and the blade swiped down at the man’s hand.

Luther, of course, was the one holding the sword.

Luther was confident that the blow would hurt him, but he never made contact. The young man was frightened, but he had pulled back his hand fast enough to avoid being cut. Luther was surprised by this and wondered how someone could dodge his blow.

Constance was also surprised by her brother. She had seen Luther use a sword in the past. He was very skilled and calculated. And he had full control over his blade. She only believed someone as talented as him could keep up with him in a swordfight. But this young man looked clumsy. So how could he dodge it?

Luther wondered the same thing. By now, Clark swallowed the food in his mouth and gestured with his hands, "What the hell, man? I’m just eating, you don’t have to take out a sword."

As he spoke, Luther wound up and slashed forward at him again.

Clark jumped back instinctively and scolded, "Damn it, you’re just looking for a fight, aren’t you?"

"Shut up!”

The blue flash of the blue swept forward again.

Luther's third blow still had not touched Clark.

"You can't get me. Go on, try it." The man taunted, his body energized.

He could forgive missing his target once or maybe twice, but three strikes without contact? Luther didn’t believe in making mistakes like that.

Constance watched from the other side of the fire as the young man dodged all of Luther's attacks. She could tell that Luther was not fighting as hard as he could be. He was curious about the man’s agility and speed, and he was testing him.

But Luther wasn’t playing nice. He hacked away at the young man, swiping faster at him. After ducking under another blow, Clark chuckled at him. Luther lifted his foot and kicked him in the chest.

Clark gasped and fell back onto the ground.

His chest felt tight and he coughed twice. He tried to catch his breath as he spoke, "You...you cheated."

But Luther only answered by slashing down between the man’s legs.

"What are you doing? You could have cut my balls off!"

Clark's hands moved quickly. He dodged Luther’s blade again.

His heart almost jumped out of his chest at seeing the deep crack it left on the hard ground.

But Luther didn't give him a chance to breathe. He slashed down at Clark’s crotch again.

This time he managed to cut a hole into Clark’s pants right inside of his thigh. Clark's red underwear showed through the hole in his pants and his face was flushed white. He covered the hole with his hands and pled with Luther to stop.

"Bro, I didn’t do anything to you! Calm down."

Luther returned the sword to its scabbard and said, "Stand up, let me touch you."

Clark took a deep breath as Luther withdrew the sword. He was dumbfounded by this and wasn’t sure what this man was going to do to him now. “What...what did you say? Could you repeat what you just said?"

"I want to touch your stomach."

Clark suddenly felt very anxious and put his hands up defensively, "Bro, listen. I'm sorry, okay? It's my fault, I shouldn't have eaten your food. But I really don’t want you to touch me. I actually have a girlfriend."

"Listen, I know you are very powerful and very skilled. You can try to fight me if you so wish, but I’m not going to do anything inappropriate to you." Luther looked at him sternly.

Clark raised his fist. "Defend your dignity, never yield to insolence!"

Luther was puzzled for a moment. What the hell he was talking about? After a moment, he figured it out. "You don't know how to use your power, but I feel that you have some hidden skills. Your body has changed. I need to know if I’m right."

"Really? It’s like that?" Clark looked at Constance, hoping to see some empathy in her face. "Bro, if there’s something going on, we can talk it out, okay? I see you have a really gorgeous girlfriend. Believe me. I know I'm a cool guy and sometimes people will like me because of that, but you and I are…not right for each other..."

Constance heard Clark assume that she was Luther's girlfriend. She didn’t react but she felt charmed at his words. However, she also looked at Luther to see his response. In complimenting her, Clark also brought up a point to question Luther’s sexuality.

"Shut up, that’s bullshit." No matter how reasonable Luther thought he, he couldn't stand others insulting his s****l orientation. Without a word, Luther grabbed Clark by the shoulder and stood him up.

"What are you doing? Help! Help! Rape!" Clark struggled desperately but wasn’t strong enough to escape Luther’s grasp.

In general, an Erazer’s power accumulated in the abdomen, so Luther naturally used this method to check Clark to make sure that he was an Erazer.

Luther felt a mass of energy similar to his ice power after touching the man’s stomach. However, this kind of energy was a bit different from his own attributes. It was not as stable as his. Actually, it was more active and erratic.

Obviously, Clark was an Erazer. He had powers.

Once he confirmed this, Luther threw Clark away.

An Erazer skilled with combative power and agility. Luther muttered softly

"What did you say your name was?"

Clark stood up and brushed himself off, relieved that Luther didn’t have perverted plans for him. But now his mind was stuck on what Luther said before regarding superpowers, and he was now afraid that Luther was psychotic. He worried that he would be attacked again, so he stepped back a little further and said cautiously, "Clark."