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Chapter 35: Haven From Hell

I waited there for a while, observing both of them. The symptoms of the petal bugs infection riddled them from head to toe, and it left me wondering what I could’ve done to stop it. I considered and rewound what I said and did in the conversation with them. In the end, I came up with no real answers. Despite what happened to them, I still resented them and how they treated me.

However, at no point did I ever hate them. Peering at the both of them, I wondered about Michael’s family back in their lodge. They probably all died already. I rubbed my temples as memories of camping trips with Michael rushed in. I didn’t remember his mom or sister that clearly, but his father’s face lingered in my mind.

The guy was a family man down to his roots. He lacked ambition for standard career paths and whatnot, but the guy always worked hard to give his family a good life. In all honesty, I envied Michael on that front. Knowing that he died left me heavy and listless. A harsh reality set in, and I wallowed in it for a while.

I didn’t stay in that dark place. Peering back up at Michael and Kelsey, I held a measure of faith in saving them. Torix’s medicinal knowledge and magical skill gave us a serious edge in bringing Michael and Kelsey back, and my armor may save them if I could get it to eat only the insects. Those outs for the situation instilled some hope in me, though I kept that hope measured.

Considering everything that happened, I still lacked confidence moving forward. Getting out of that dark place, I paced into the back hallway. Torix’s design gave the underground lair a druidic feel to it, elegant roots composing archways everywhere. Support beams made of gnarled tree roots held each room upright. I passed the doorway to my own room, my name etched with mana overhead along with the title of disciple.

I smiled at that.

Yellow honeysuckle bloomed from the strands of wood, the leaves and flowers blocking the doorway. I pulsed mana into the plantlife, and it moved on its own. Walking inside, the honeysuckle closed behind me. All the sound from outside ceased in an instant. A bed of soft, dark moss nuzzled into the corner of my room, along with a plate of polished steel for a mirror.

When I sat down, the moss was soft as silk. I crossed my arms before leaning down onto my knees. I tapped my head against my knees, the clanking of my armor turning into a dull hum over time. That’s when my mind wandered. I dwelled on everything that happened, and hours passed by as I did. Not needing sleep, I processed most of what happened while awake. I still rested there, unmoving yet somehow restless.

A thud echoed in from the door of plants. I raised my head, “Who is it?”

To my surprise, Althea’s voice leaked through the brush, “Uhm, it’s me. I wanted to talk for a minute.”

Wondering what she wanted, I stood and opened the plants with mana. They responded to my touch, unfurling in an elegant flow. Althea stood in a fitted robe, smiling up at me. She hid something behind her back, and I raised a brow, wondering what it was. Her grin being infectious, I smiled back at her, “You look ecstatic. What’s up with you?”

She pushed herself up onto her toes, “Nothing. Well, there’s something, and uh, I wanted to show it to you. Do you have some time?”

Peering away, a piece of me wanted to be alone. It wanted to crawl into a hole and just lay there forever. I pushed that part of me down before turning back to Althea. I scoffed, “You know what? All I really have now is time. Whatever it is, let’s do it.”

She pulled a dusty, old game of bingo out from behind her back. She pushed it out to me while brimming with excitement, “It’s that game you mentioned forever ago. I found it.”

I blinked, blown away. Not only had she remembered the game, she found it too. I raised a brow at the old box, “Huh. Wow. It really is the game.” I peered under the box, “There’s supposed to be a ball turner thingy. Where is it?”

Althea pulled out a bingo ball spinner, a chunk of wood still attached from where she tore it out of a table. Someone bolted the metal turner to a table, but Althea ripped it out. Leaning back, I laughed for a long while. I kept laughing until I cried. I wiped away a tear while Althea narrowed her eyes at me, a bit peeved,

“I thought you liked the game? What’s so funny?”

I picked up the ball turner, “Before Schema’s system arrived, the idea of tearing this out of the wood would’ve been absurd. You never even thought to unbolt it, and that makes perfect sense. I don’t know, seeing those ideas clash was funny.”

Althea shrugged, “Ok, well, wanna play?”

I flicked the metal turner, balls flinging everywhere, “Hm, you know people only played this when they were bored, right?”

Althea snatched the ball turner from me, “Ok, so it’s perfect for us. I know I’m bored.”

I pursed my lips, “Huh…Point taken.”

We set the game down, and I pulled up the scoresheets, the old crayons, and the other supplies. It took a few minutes of explanation and examples before Althea got the hang of it. Simple as the game was, Althea never really played any games when she was a child. This was her first seeing anything like this, so it took some time to establish the terminology and whatnot.

She got the hang of it after a few minutes, however, and I turned the bingo ball spinner for a few seconds before pulling out a ball. I picked it up and said, “Six G.”

Althea raised her hands in anticipation, “Hah! I’ve got it. What do I do again?”

I pointed at the mark on her sheet, “You mark that.”

She slashed across the paper with a crayon, “Ok. What next?”

I twisted the ball roller once more, “We go for another round.”

She leaned over the ball roller, “Oh I can’t wait.”

Somehow, Althea stayed engaged with the game, maintaining her thrill the entire time. It baffled my expectations, but in a refreshing kind of way. As we played, she and I chatted away. For the most part, we kept the conversation light. It revolved around our builds, skills, and certain trees. After a while, Althea peered up from her score sheet and looked me in the eye. She raised an eyebrow,

“Uhm, how are you holding up?”

I frowned, “Hm…Better than I thought I would.”

That was kind of a lie. Althea leaned onto a hand with her cheek, “That’s good. Er, great really. I thought you’d be more, I don’t know…falling apart. You seem fine, at least on the surface.”

I rolled the bingo ball roller again, playing because she wanted to. After a ball flung out, I weighed my hands back and forth, “It’s Schema’s system holding me together. I chose a willpower perk recently, and since then, my mind feels like granite.”

She tilted her head at me, “Really? If you ask me, you always came across like that, even before now. You always stuck it out. To me, at least.”

I leaned back onto my hands, peering up, “Maybe. I think the system is doing the majority of the legwork though.”

Althea furrowed her brow, “I don’t know about that. Look at Kessiah. She’s gotta have more willpower than you, but she’s still way lazier.”

I raised a hand, “But what about Torix? That guy’s a machine. He never stops working.”

Althea tilted her head, “I guess, but I think he works hard even considering how much willpower he has. That’s probably why he has such a high level and so many useful skills. He uses his mind as much as he can, but like, Kessiah doesn’t. At all…It’s frustrating to watch sometimes.”

I peered at my sheet, “She’s still the strongest among us.”

Althea pursed her lips, “Yeah, but I taled to Torix about her being a remnant. They’re born with genetic modifications, and that makes them, er, start with a lot levels or something. It’s complicated, but think of it like Schema’s system is more of a supplement to them.”

My eyes widened, “Really?”

Althea shrugged, “Apparently, Kessiah was over level two thousand by the time she was twenty years old. That wasn’t from clearing dungeons either. Schema just gave it to her.”

I blinked, “Wow…That’s a hell of a head start. She’s so much stronger than us.”

Althea put a lock of hair behind her ear, “But how long will that last, you know? I think both of us will beat her out…In the long run…Maybe the really long run for me.”

Remembering the bodies in Springfield, I sighed, “Man, if we survive long enough for that to happen, I’d call us blessed.”

Althea pulled her legs up, wrapping her arms around them. She wrestled with an idea in her mind, her face showing several expressions. After half a minute, she murmured, “I, uhm…I wanted to apologize for getting you wrapped up in this Yawm situation. I feel like it’s my fault.”

I scoffed, “What? Why?”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it? I landed here, and the Yawm guy sent in reinforcements to come get me. That’s why he’s here in the first place.”

I shook my head, “I don’t think so. You may be valuable, but there’s no way Yawm would send this many reinforcements to get you alone. Yawm knows about the dimensional tears that happened here, and I think he wants to know what happened. Why? I can’t guess just yet, but it has to revolve around my armor.”

I put all my weight onto one arm while lifting the other one, “I was called by Etorhma after all, and Yawm’s connected to Etorhma some which way. We’ll have to figure all of that out by peeling his organization apart. We’ll find some clues, and answers will come from them. Either way, you don’t owe me an apology. If anything, you joining us really helps us out. It’s one less person on their side and one more on ours.”

Althea’s eyes brightened. She chimed, “Huh…I never thought about it like that.”

I picked up the bingo ball, “Is that why you brought me this whole bingo thing?”

Althea blushed, “Of…Of course. That’s exactly why.”

I rolled my eyes, “Uh huh. You sure you didn’t just want to try it out?”

She hid a smile behind her knees, “Ok…Maybe a little.”

I met her eyes, “Good. You should do more stuff for you sometimes. If you ask me, you don’t owe any of us anything, so it’s good you’re doing something for yourself for a change. Hell, in my opinion, we shouldn’t take you for granted because being taken for granted sucks.” I remembered Michael and Kelsey. I simmered while picking up the bingo ball,

“Trust me, I know all about it…Nine B.”

She scratched in a little mark on her sheet before swaying back and forth, “Yeah. You do.”

We played another few rounds before Althea tapped her legs with her fingertips. She murmured, “Er, thanks for always saying stuff like that. Sometimes, I’ll be thinking a lot, and I’ll get in my head about everything. I end up thinking one thing, then I’ll think about another and…I end up feeling really down. Talking to you cheers me up.”

Her words warmed me, “Really? Me?”

“Yeah.”

I tried stopping a grin, and I looked away. No matter my efforts, my smile was irrepressible, rising up to the corner of my eyes. I covered my mouth with a hand, “You’re…You’re welcome. I’m glad I can pay you back some for doing stuff like this.”

Althea leaned her chin onto her knees, a mischievous grin on her lips, “Remember, it’s like you said. I did this for me.”

From the corner of my eye, I looked at her, “Yeah, but this worked out for me too. I needed something to take the edge off, and this worked like a charm.”

Althea tilted her head, “Glad to hear it…Are you going to roll the ball thing?”

I shook my head, blushing a bit after staring at Althea for a while. I tapped the edge of my forehead, “Sorry about that. I got distracted.”

Althea flushed, her silvery skin flushing red. She peered away, “Oh.”

A tense silence passed between us before I rolled the bingo ball roller with excessive speed, “Oh man, we have got to get on with this game, right?”

She scratched her cheek, “Uhm, absolutely. For sure.”

A few more rounds passed, and we chatted for a while. The tension eased, and we got back into the swing of the game. In time, I stared down at an empty scoresheet, “Man, luck’s not on my side today.”

Althea leaned over her slip, “I’m close to another win.”

I tilted my head at her, “Huh…What about we make this more interesting?”

She blinked, “How?”

“Hm, if I win, you’ll have to help me train for a month.”

Althea’s face wrinkled in disgust, “Oh, that sounds terrible.”

I shrugged, “Yeah, but if you win, you’ll get something too.”

“Ooh…Like what?”

I tilted my head, “I don’t know. What would you want?”

Althea tapped her chin, thinking for a while. Her eyes widened as she swung her arm, “If I win, you have to show me more of your world’s stuff. Like other games or food.”

I reached out a hand, “It’s a deal.”

A moment passed as she stared at my palm. I motioned it, “You’re supposed to shake it. This is my world’s stuff.”

She stuck out her hand, grabbing mine at the wrong angle. Althea wobbled her hand in different directions before I burst into a laugh. She frowned at me, “What? I shook it like you said.”

I smiled, grabbing her hand, “It’s like this.”

We did a proper handshake, my palm guiding hers on the proper path. She mouthed, “Ooh. That’s how.”

She held my hand for a while before I raised my brows, “You can let me go now.”

Her hand flashed back, and her face flushed again, “Oh…Ok.”

We played another few rounds before I gained on her. The cards played out in my favor, and I filled out my scoresheet over the next dozen rounds. Before we knew it, both of our sheets filled out to their utmost extent, and each number called could result in a victory. Althea leaned over her sheet, her eyes wide with fear at the prospect of helping me train for a full month. Me? I had nothing to lose either way, so I stayed relaxed.

Althea’s eyes bored a hole through her sheet as I picked up the last bingo ball. I stared at it, and the number filled out the last row of my sheet. All I needed to do was say the number aloud, and I gained Althea as my training assistant for a full month. Feeling good, I took a breath, amped and ready to relish my victory.

Before I said the number aloud, I caught a glimpse of Althea’s face. She teamed with an unbridled excitement, an almost childish wonder in the game. She wanted the win, sure, but more than anything, Althea desired a view of the outside world. If bingo got her this excited, imagine scrabble or some other old, boring-ish board game. The possibilities were endless!

Sarcasm aside, I paused for a second. I stared at her sheet, and I said,

“Nine K.”

She raised her hands, shouting and jumping for joy. I flopped the ball back into the basket before she found out that I lied about the game’s result. I threw my hands up, “Gah, you got me.”

She pointed at me, “Hah. Now you have to show me all kinds of stuff. Like food. And I want it freshly cooked too.” Awareness crossed over her, replacing the childish joy. She coughed into a hand, “Ahem…I-If you want to.”

I gave her a warm smile, “Absolutely.” I pushed myself up, “Thanks for the game. This was fun.”

Althea yawned, “Yeah, same here.”

I raised a brow, “You’re going to need your sleep. We’ve got a long day ahead of us.”

She grabbed the sides of her head, “You’re right. Do you mind cleaning this all up? I’ll do it next time.”

“It’s not a problem at all. Go get some shut eye.”

She stepped up to the honeysuckle doorway. As she left, she grinned, “You, uhm…Sleep well too. Or train. Or whatever you like doing.”

“You too.”

She left the room, leaving warmth as she did. I soaked it in, appreciating her coming here like that. It ended a horrible day with a great evening, and I would’ve just dwelled on what happened for a long while otherwise. Instead, I stretched my arms and legs, rearing and ready to work hard through the night. I cleaned up the bingo game, making certain that every part of it fitted into its appropriate slot.

I carved out a section in the wall before putting the game there. Scared it would collapse or get the game dirty, I spent thirty minutes making a reinforced shelf out of torn parts of my armor. After situating it so that it wouldn’t be harmed, I sat myself down with my legs crossed. I took a breath, getting ready to get a feel for my extra mana reserves.

When I ran here, I used more mana than before, but I kept some in reserve. This time, I aimed to get as much out of my enhanced health regeneration as possible. By getting an intuitive understanding of the sensation, my usability for my mana would rise by leaps and bounds. Making that happen, I revved my augmentation into action. It flared to life, a blazing orange plume radiating out of each arm.

I kept my eyes closed, honing my mind onto converting as much of my body and blood and bones as I could. Those physical parts of me relented, converting into mana with ease. I kept surging the energies, rotating and getting a feel for them over the next hour. After two hours, I reached the apex of my current ability.

I trembled under it.

The rippling force of the mana left me motivated and starving for action of any kind. I wanted to jump, move, and fight. I needed an outlet, my hands clasping with white knuckled furry. Leaning down, I tried dampening the energy’s flow. It waned down in a slow ebb before surging once more. I leaned back from myself, stunned by the energy fighting me like this.

Redoubling my efforts, I gritted my teeth while willing the energy to stop. It bowed down, but it continued its surge. Grabbing my knees, I clasped my hands with all my strength, roaring at the energy flow to stop. Unable to withstand my howl, the spiraling mana relented. It dwindled and receded, no longer pulling at my body to sustain itself.

As it lessened into a trickle, sweat beaded on my forehead. I gasped for air, the sheer deluge of mana overwhelming my initial attempts at containing it. It fed on my flesh and bones, the mass of energy taking on a life of its own. After a certain amount of mass, the mana could direct itself. After gaining some confidence, the ball of mental thoughts directed itself against me. The sensation reminded me of blacking out while fighting monsters in Springfield.

Leaning back, I wondered if that’s what happened to me. Testing the hypothesis, I took a breath, summoning another storm of energy. I rose the trickle up slowly, probing the mana fueling me. The desire to roam rampant and move flowed over me like jumping in a basin of bloodlust and motivation. I smiled at it, thinking of how this supplemented my natural ambitions and desire to improve. Even on its own, that was useful.

Taking another moment, I channeled the energy through myself for a while. It burned through my health regen, slowing my rate of healing. Even more pressing, heat built in my room and on my skin. Eventually, my blood and skin sizzled from the mana overflow. I scoffed as the mana overwhelmed my ability to regenerate. In a violent, decisive jerk, I quelled the mana storm with a mental whip.

This time, I left nothing on the table, so the mana gave in from my first strike. I let myself cool down over the next few minutes, mentally and physically. I cycled this control of mana, wrestling with the mana storms as I called them. It acted like walking a tightrope, and in time, it turned comfortable. A couple of hours later, I rolled my shoulders and stood up tall. Taking a break from mana control, I paced out towards Torix and Kessiah.

Kessiah left the mana pool, going who knows where. Torix established an evil lair in his corner of the central area, creating graphs, charts, and maps showcasing Springfield in its entirety. Up until recently, the ritual chained the poor necromancer down, but without that consuming him, his full abilities unleashed. That manifested with plots, plans, and machinations of all kinds. Thinking those up, Torix paced back and forth while staring at a map.

I walked up and raised a hand to him, “Yo. What are you working on?”

Torix tilted his head at me, “Hm…You’re still awake? You couldn’t sleep, I’ll assume.”

I shook my head, “I don’t need to anymore.”

Torix’s fire eyes flared bright, “You…You chose the willpower perk? You of all people?”

I spread my hands, “Uh, yeah. What’s surprising about that?”

Torix peered off, “I…Hm, I expected you to simply invest into endurance, strength, and dexterity like most fighters do. That creates a durable, strong core of attributes to rely on. Why did you side with willpower?”

I put my hands on my hips, “I wanted more of it.”

Torix stared at me like I dumped a bunch of black slush on his maps. Torix murmed, “Hm. That’s a rather simple stratagem, don’t you think?”

I shrugged, “Occam’s razor. Most of the time, the simplest answer is the best one. When I saw the perk, I wanted and needed it. Boom, I selected it.”

Torix pushed up his glasses, “I-I shall refrain from judging you for that reasoning…Ahem, at least as much as I am able to.” Torix stood back up, “Then did you walk out of here as a break for whatever training you’ve devised?”

I pursed my lips, “You could say that.” I gestured to the maps, “What’s all this?”

Torix snapped his view to his charts, and he spread his arms with a dramatic flair, “Ah, this? Why, I’m so glad you asked. You see, this is a series of charts detailing the habits and locations of Yawm’s Followers along with supply routes his force has established. I’ve learned that our enemy is disorganized as Yawm has hidden himself within a world tree of some sort.”

I raised a brow, “Like Yggdrasil?”

Torix tilted his head, “Is that a fictional being or?”

I peered off, “You know, maybe. Eldritch are real, so why not mythical gods? Anyways, Yggdrasil is a god of the world in, er, I think it’s the vikings’ mythos, whatever that is.”

Torix grabbed his chin, “Ah yes, you mentioned them before. They were tribal, bloodthirsty battlers. Schema would shine favor on those clansmen no doubt. Regardless, charting these locations tells me that Yawm’s forces splinter apart often and by large distances. This makes eradicating them down to the last woman and child quite simple.”

A chill ran down my spine as Torix scoffed, “If Yawm left any children alive, that is.”

I frowned as Torix sighed. He shook his head, “Hah…It would seem that few sentients appreciate a bit of dark humor. Regardless, our force is far smaller than Yawm’s. However, their forces splinter far more than ours will, and those split pieces can be taken care of promptly. You and Althea shall gain many levels from doing so, and even Kessiah and I will as well.”

Torix’s eyes flared a bloody red as he raised his hands, “And as with all conquerors, we shall stand on a bridge of their corpses. They will become fuel for our survival, a potent elixir to empower and embolden us…It shall be delightful.”

Staring at Torix, he seemed bigger than I remembered him being. Not physically, but his presence as a whole. The more I understood him, the more he reminded me of pictures of space. It was like I gazed at something I couldn’t fully comprehend. Not yet, at least. I put my hands on my hips, “Man. You really thought this through, huh?”

Torix cackled before peering at me, “I most certainly have. It’s exciting, isn’t it?”

Intimidated but full of anticipation, I nodded, “It is.”

Torix rubbed his hands together, stepping over towards all of the marks, “Perhaps you’d enjoy an explanation on where, why, when, and how their units move as they do. Having a lesser commander-”

I waved my hands, “Hell no. Please. No.”

Torix’s hands plopped onto his sides, “Oh…That’s a tad bit disappointing. I’d formulated quite a few lectures on just that topic, actually.”

I scratched the side of my head, “For me, I was wondering if you knew anything about the runes. I feel like I’m good at them, and I was wondering if there was anything else I could do with them? You know, besides writing them into my armor.”

Torix’s teaching mode returned in full force, “Ooh, so that’s what you desire to know. Well then, the real question you must ask is what can’t you do with them? They may serve any means and purpose you could desire so long as the creativity and ability for their creation is present. Here-” Torix reached up a hand, a portal appearing above me. A pile of books spilled out and Torix spread his hands,

“These books will teach you the primary conventions regarding current runic writing philosophies.”

A pit in my stomach form as I held about twenty books in my arms. A bead of cold sweat poured from my brow as I gasped, “So, do I have to read all of this?”

Torix tilted his head, “What? Why, of course you do. These are the initial readings. Seeing as you don’t need any sleep, you should take advantage of that opportunity. Besides that, what else will you do with your time?”

I raised my brows, “I don’t know…Actually practice stuff instead of reading about it?”

Torix waved away my statement with the brush of his hand, “Scholars fight with the written word, not their fists. Being my disciple, you’ll learn this truth one bundle of books at a time.”

I turned to my room, my shoulders slumping. Getting there, I sat down and pulled up the thinnest book. Schema converted the language for me, forming systemized text on top of the alien characters. They gave clear, concise translations of the esoteric, alien ideas. Barely touching on the thoughts of the book, I leaned my face into my hands. I let out a deep sigh.

It was going to be a long night.