4 Escape

When Leon woke up, all he felt was pain. The pain overwhelmed all his senses and his mind couldn't quite process things logically. However, there was one thing that Leon didn't forget if his friends were alive or not. As Leon was crawling to the bodies scattered around the hallway due to his broken legs, he noted the chains imprisoning the large figure were shattered and the bars bent and broken. However, the huge figure was nowhere in sight. He also saw the bodies of the four animals strewn around the hallway, most of them were either crushed or burned to a crisp, but recognizable from the size of the corpse.

Leon started to ponder what could've happened here until he heard a soft breathe barely audible.

He started to crawl towards the sound and the sight made him tear up. It was Max clinging on to life by a thread. Leon crawled to Max and embraced his friend.

Max's body trembled slightly, as he whispered.

"Leon is that you?"

In return, Leon embraced Max.

"Yes, it is Max. Max, there are so many questions I have. But first, we have to get you to a healer."

As he coughed up a pool of blood, Max wheezed.

"No Leon. You can't even walk, yet barely crawl. It'll take days before we can get out and make it to the village, if you take me by then we will be both dead, me especially. All I can do is talk to you one last time."

Leon tried to interrupt Max, but Max stubbornly intervened.

"Leon, you are probably wondering what the hell happened here. Heuk, that giant of a figure, broke free as we were running towards you. However as the giant bent the bars, the four Guardians had already attacked the survivors. They.... "

Max started to tear up.

"They are all dead. I barely survived as the Serpent crushed me because the giant started to attack the Guardians and the serpent let go. Those Guardians stood no chance at that abomination of a thing. It crushed them like they were a bunch of insects blocking his way with a speed not normal for something of its size. Only the Ram survived since even the figure didn't want to step on its sharp horns. Instead, it did something with its hands and said something, the ground shook and lava spewed from the ground and burned the Ram to a crisp. After that, it just left and disappeared."

Max coughed one more time and with his dying breath.

"Leon, live for Dan and I. Adventure for the both of us. Become strong for both of us. Live our dreams and be happy for both of us. Promise me that you won't change, promise me that you'll keep your smile and happy disposition! Promise me that you'll move on from this...don't let this hold you back."

Leon held Max's hand and clutched it.

"I promise Max, I promise."

Max's pulse slowly became fainter as his limbs started to relax.

"I really enjoyed being your friend..."

Max went limp in Leon's hands and Leon started to sob. The pain barraged him like a series of missiles that attacked his heart. Tears flowed down his face like it was raining, by the time he stopped crying his eyes were bright red and the ground has been soaked with a tiny puddle.

'Why....Why did this happen? Why did I have to live on without my only friends? Why have the heavens been so cruel? Why has life been so cold?'

While still trying to hold back tears, he decided to try to honor his friend's words and live.

Leon saw the straight path the giant made through the entire place and thought he might be able to at least take his friends and bury them in the forest outside the monument.

Leon tied his friends together by their legs with his ripped leather armor and used one arm to drag his friends and the other to move. After hours of moving inches at a time, they made it outside using the holes through the wall that the giant made.

Leon found a nice spot under the tallest tree under the forest, right outside the monument, and dug a hole just deep enough to bury his friends. He dragged his friends and covered back the hole. After finding some flowers and laying them on the grave and marking it with sticks and some rocks, the now exhausted Leon crawled his way back to the Xert village. As he was about to lose consciousness again on the path to the Xert entrance, one of the villagers coming back from the fields spotted him and worriedly ran up to him. She was shouting something, but it just sounded like muffled noises to Leon who lost consciousness eventually as soon as he saw that he was finally safe.

Leon woke up on a cloth bed in a strange cottage. Instantly he smelled the scent of herbs and potions. He knew he was in some healer's hut. The newly applied bandages and wooden supports attached to his now healing broken legs. Since he still couldn't get up, all he could do was stay in the bed.

Suddenly, he remembered all that had happened and the scene of Max dying in his arms. He wanted to cry and sob again but held back the flood of tears as he remembered the promise he made with Max to not let their deaths affect his smile. After a minute of silence, he had managed to push down the tears in his eyes.

However Leon saw something surprising in the top left corner of his vision, the bluebell icon was flashing, meaning he had gotten new notifications from the system. He clicked on the system and brought up his stats.

Level: 3

HP: 24/51

Experience: 21/35

Title: The Liberator of Gods

Class: Wind Walker

Mana: 28/28

Vitality: 21

Strength: 22

Intelligence: 27

Agility: 41

Luck: 23

Blessing: Ultimate Blessing from ??????

Stat Sheet: Hidden

Skills: Back Stab, Dash, Stealth, Slash

Passive: Sword Knowledge, Dagger Knowledge

Leon's eyes almost popped out of his head, as he saw his changed stat sheet. Leon thought to himself.

'Just what the hell happened to me.'