The Reborn Young Master's Guide to Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse BL-Chapter 20: Step Twenty: Handling Core Burn Must Be Dealt With Immediately

Chapter 20: Step Twenty: Handling Core Burn Must Be Dealt With Immediately

Because Survival Depends on Understanding the Cost of Power

Pain was the first thing to greet Asher as consciousness clawed its way back.

Each breath was a razor slicing through shattered ribs; bruises bloomed beneath his torn flesh like dark blossoms.

The spike still embedded deep in his left shoulder throbbed with every pulse, a cruel reminder that his body was far from whole.

Inside, the space threads he’d wielded, once sharp and alive, felt tattered, smoldering embers of power, leaving unseen wounds that no salve could soothe.

His mind drifted in a fog as thick as winter’s breath.

Around him, the battlefield was a frozen graveyard.

Crystals of frost glittered on broken branches.

There were uprooted trees lying twisted like discarded weapons.

The faint ripples in the air betrayed gravity’s strange dance, warping the space beneath the bloodied morning sky.

Distant groans stirred the silence.

Survivors staggered, clutching wounds.

Their faces were pale but fierce with the survivor’s stubborn flame.

Asher blinked, vision swimming before sharpening.

His gaze searched the ruined field and caught the corpse of the zombie General, it’s body a mess.

But the Sovereign King, Necrorex, was nowhere to be seen.

A cold dread coiled tight in Asher’s chest.

His eyes rose.

There, suspended above the shattered earth, was Cas.

Encased in a swirling cocoon of frost and warped gravity, his form was a statue of ice and shadow.

The icy shell cracked and glistened, revealing beneath it a faint pulse of navy blue light, flickering with fragile life.

Confusion prickled at Asher’s mind.

Cas’s power had always been the pure, biting cold of ice, untouchable, lethal, but now gravity bent around him, a new force tethering his broken body.

The battlefield itself seemed to yield beneath that invisible weight.

Nearby voices whispered in awed fear.

"He froze all the Rank Zero and Rank One zombies solid... Necrorex... the Sovereign king... he’s gone," one murmured, disbelief threading their voice.

Another voice, cold with dread, added, "The Young General jumped from Rank Zero to Rank Four in mere hours. The strain must have shattered his system."

Asher’s teeth clenched.

He recognized the signs.

Core Burn.

When an ability user’s power core is pushed beyond natural limits, it ignites, then fractures causing core burn.

This leads to Vein Collapse.

When one’s veins have frozen and cracked, unless the ability user has a strong mental psych, one was destined to fall from the heavens, reducing the ability user to nothing but a waste.

He’d seen the devastating cost of power abuse, but nothing as drastic as this.

Caspian was in an icy coma wrapped in gravity.

His own body screamed with injury, but the sight of Cas, so broken yet defiant, stirred a fierce flame in him.

Slowly, and trembling, he made his way to where Caspian floated.

Asher reached out a shaking hand, and as if recognizing him, the gravity disappeared.

Caspian fell into Asher’s embrace.

His fingers brushed the frost that wrapped around Cas’s arm.

Beneath the cold shell, a faint warmth pulsed, celestial and ancient.

Why do you have celestial energy beneath your ice, Cas?

In his mind, Asher summoned Silvia, the Celestial Beast, the spectral wolf bound to his soul.

The wolf’s presence stirred like a whisper in the cold night.

"Yes, Second Young Master?" Siliva mind linked.

"Why does Caspian carry an ability that he never had in my previous life and why do I sense celestial energy radiating off of him?" Asher questioned. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"This energy... It is divine. Caspian carries the final shard...something older than this war..."

"Final shard?" The phrase echoed with mystery, pressing on Asher’s thoughts like a riddle without an answer.

Nearby, James groaned, clutching his ribs, face pale and slick with sweat.

Kieran leaned heavily on a fractured tree trunk, breaths shallow and uneven.

"I pushed myself too hard," James rasped, voice strained.

Kieran nodded weakly, "Same. My core feels like it’s tearing apart from inside."

A shadow stepped into the fading dawn light.

It was Holland, Cas’s grandfather and former General.

Unlike his grandson, Holland hadn’t awakened.

No powers flared from him, but his steady hand gripped twin pistols that gleamed cold and deadly.

He surveyed the frozen battlefield with steady eyes.

"Cas did what no one else could. He shattered Necrorex with sheer will and power."

Asher met Holland’s gaze, respect and worry mingling.

"But at what price? He is clearly in a coma!"

Holland’s jaw tightened. "We all pay the price, one way or another. Cas’s sacrifice... will be honored."

Suddenly, a glow caught Asher’s eye.

It was Doctor Yelara, Holland’s personal Doctor who had fought alongside the group.

Asher saw that over the course of 4 days, she leveled up to a Rank Two healer at the yellow stage.

Asher and Holland watched as Doctor Yelara moved swiftly through the wounded as she healed the gravely injured.

Ability users were stronger than most humans and their powers often had some healing effects but not a lot.

After tending to the regular humans, she moved onto the ability users.

Finally, after treating his older brothers, Doctor Yelara reached out towards Asher, her hands shimmered faintly with healing power.

Asher dodged her, and motioned to the man in his arms.

"Heal him first." Asher stated.

"B-b-but your wounds!" Yelara stuttered.

"I can wait. Caspian is the hero who saved you, heal him first. I can tend to myself." Asher shook his head.

Hearing this, Holland barked out orders

"We must move before more zombies appear. Solara’s stronghold is close, just past the underpass and we will be in Solara. The city will provide safety and medical aid to the survivors."

The group gathered, some murmuring doubts.

A rough looking survivor spat out, "Why drag a corpse? The Young General is dead weight. We should cut losses."

Asher’s voice rang out, steady and resolute.

"The Young General isn’t dead. And no one gets left behind. Not while there’s still a chance."

The murmurs died down.

Outside, the crimson dawn deepened, bleeding into the fiery sky.

When night came, the violet-black moon would rise, shrouding the world in shadow.

The fourth morning of this nightmare, and this was only the beginning.

As they prepared to move, Asher’s gaze lingered on Cas’s frozen form in his arms.

The faint pulse of celestial power flickered, steady but fragile.

A soft whisper brushed his ear, barely audible but unmistakable.

"We are watching player 661..."

A shiver ran down Asher’s spine.

What the hell-?

Silvia’s presence warmed his thoughts.

"We don’t have much time. The shard bearer’s life force is seeping away. He needs a healer. Now."

Memories flickered of his previous life.

It was of Caspian, commanding the battlefield with his icy powers yet now he was a frozen statue, trapped in a coma.

Asher’s jaw tightened.

His vow was silent but ironclad.

No matter the cost... he would make sure Caspian wakes up.

He would protect him.

Because their fates were bound deeper than either could yet know.

The forty survivors ushered themselves into the remaining military cars, looking back at their fallen friends before tearfully getting into the cars.

Asher placed Caspian in one of the military cars with Yelara following.

Holland sat in the driver seat, James in the front passenger seat and Kieran in the middle row.

Asher, Caspian and Yelara were in the back row.

Yelara began to heal Caspian.

"These wounds..." Yelara muttered, tears streaming down her face.

These were the most terrible wounds she ever saw as a Doctor.

She bit her lip as she tried to concentrate, yet the wounds did not close up and Caspian did not look any better.

Rather, he looked worse than before.

"I don’t think..."

"If anyone can survive this, it’s him. But it won’t be soon. It won’t be easy. Here." Asher said as he shoved something round into her palm.

Her eyebrows scrunched in confusion as she looked down into her hand.

It was a shining crystal, as big as a baseball.

"Eat it."

"W-what??" She exclaimed, the very thought of eating a hard shining crystal confused her greatly.

Asher sighed.

"It came from the General. It is his power source. Eat it to level up." Asher said as he leaned back into the seat of the car.

"Okay!!"

Yelara took a bite and to her surprise, it was not hard but rather soft!

It tasted sweet and after eating it, she was encased in a golden glow.

Beads of sweat rolled down her forehead and suddenly she felt an immense pain in her chest.

After half an hour, Yelara opened her eyes.

She had leveled up to rank 3 red stage.

Asher nodded in satisfaction.

He knew it was best to invest in a healer, especially one loyal to his ally.

As the car continued its journey to the hidden safe base, Caspian started to look much better.

Exhausted, Yelara leaned back and wiped the sweat off her forehead.

"There, he is stable now. Let me heal you now." Yelara said as she turned to Asher.

Seeing the ice had melted, and a calm, relaxed expression on Cas’s face, Asher agreed.

Pulling her first aid kit closer to herself, Yelara started by extracting the spike embedded in his shoulder. Asher bit back a cry, teeth clenched tight.

Asher’s thoughts flickered to the celestial pulse beneath the frost. The ancient energy Silvia spoke of—the final shard. His mental link to the Celestial Beast stirred again.

"Don’t worry, Second Young Master. His fate isn’t his alone. The shard ties him to something far greater."