Life Doesn't Wait for You.

Over the coming couple weeks, me and Cam found ourselves indulging in Arlo's stash of various homemade alcohols more often. It was a fun way to spend the evenings, while the days went towards our training. I'd been advised by Athena to play around with various weapons until I found one I either showed talent in, or just enjoyed using.. However for the moment I was struggling.

Don't misunderstand, the world didn't hate me so much that I had no talent for magic OR physical combat, but more-so that I had a mediocre talent in most weapons I used. After finding that out, Cam decided to take it as an opportunity to practice against the less common weapon types so he'd be prepared should he have to take them on..

Which was a lot of pressure for me. But I couldn't crumple under something so mediocre compared to what these guys suffered through.

"So.. Let me get this straight Zeke. You've never really held a sword, and yet you've picked up on it so naturally after just a few days?"

"I.. Suppose so? Is that a bad or a good thing?"

"Well. It's good, yeah.. Just a little surprising. Especially considering the same thing happened with the battle-axe and the great-hammer just earlier. It's strange.

"..I might sound a bit cocky saying this, but even if it's weird it seems like a good thing.. So lets just roll with it. Yeah?"

"Yeah. Sounds like a plan. We'll try something strange next.. like the whip!"

"Alright!"

For the record, I can use the whip pretty well. Before I continue writing about my own experiences and gains, I'm sure you're curious about where Sasha and Conway are, and I'll start off by saying they're totally fine. They've been downstairs in the basement over the past couple weeks, once again trying to get that message out to Arlo with varying levels of success. Supposedly they finally got one out just yesterday, and I'm inclined to believe it since Athena claimed her systems were a little.. messier than usual. Plus, when I went to check on them, they were both complaining of a bad headache.

If I had to assume, I'd say they're probably resting right about now.. But back to me and Cameron. The training went well. I can now use my fists, the weapons mentioned earlier, and a great-sword pretty damn well. On the less positive side is how my Anti-Mana training is going.. No matter how hard I try I can't manipulate it. It just goes berserk whenever I release even a little, trying to eat away at the mana in the air. I found it frustrating at first but now it just feels a little redundant to keep trying, considering there's been absolutely no improvement.. I'll keep trying though. You never know when you might have a breakthrough. Anyhow. That's all for the moment. Will update soon.

Hey. So it's been a minute. Not literally, obviously. It's literally been a few days, and well.. Everything is a bit different. And messy.

It started when me and Cameron had our usual drink, while Conway was trying to upgrade his armour. He'd been talking about doing it for a few days by that point, and it seems he finally ran out of patience when he got Athena and Nurse to tell him where all the equipment was, planning on doing it himself.

It was at that point when everyone decided to bicker once again. Just a little. Sasha used her powers to supposedly freeze Conway in place via his armour. Now, before I continue I'd like to say I'm not massively proud of this, and I WAS a little drunk. But anyhow. This is roughly how it went.

Co - "I wonder if you'd have this same fucking attitude if you didn't have those powers, dickwad."

Sa - "I mean.. I hope I would. It's not a nice idea to be completely decided by my powers."

Co - "Shut up. It was a rhetorical question, idiot. You know you'd be more than dead without them. Right? Not even 'cos of me. You just piss everyone off around you sooo much."

Sa - "I think you're pretty hypocritical to talk about ann-

Ze - "You know what? Let me lay a truth bomb on you, Sasha. If Arlo cared SOO much for you, he would have teleported back here to get you and he'd be here right now. You clearly annoyed your brother like you annoy fuckin' everyone else based on that. So why look for him? Why bother? You're just gonna be disappointed when he isn't even remotely interested in your return."

Sa. "..." Sasha left the room, without her usual snarky comment. I failed to notice at the time.

Ca - "Fucking hell, you really went there..? That feels like a low blow.."

Co - "..Maybe that was a little too far, Zeke."

..So yeah. I do feel bad about it now, but.. The worst part is I didn't even notice how bad it was until I was sober, so I didn't even remotely consider apologising. Sasha and Conway argued upstairs the next day, or so Cam told me, as he needed her to open a certain storage box he didn't have the clearance to. I was hungover to high-hell, so I wasn't even really conscious at the time. By the time I started to feel half-decent that afternoon, the cabin was quiet. Conway had shut himself in the workshop to try upgrading his armour, with Athena and Nurse in there to help.. Well. Athena was focusing on that, more accurately, since she didn't move from the console at all..

The point is she was too busy to talk to me. Even Cameron had gone out to hunt for some half-decent food.. I didn't like the silence. It made me uncomfortable. I'll write some more when things change.

So.. I'm by myself now. I don't really know where to go next. Lets go over what happened. First, Conway was unable to finish his armour. He came out, completely drained and simultaneously royally pissed off. Cam had come back and cooked up some mystery meat. It was brown, and tasted like cheap steak.. Overall, pretty good. After that he sat down with a cider and relaxed, though, only momentarily.

See, not long after that, Arlo appeared. Out of one of those portals. And he must've ran into Sasha on the way because they came together, which was nice for them. I didn't dare make eye-contact though.. Not after hearing what I said last night. He only briefly glossed over me, like usual, before telling everyone to stop going through his shit. I get it, but..

As if he really needed all of it. Just saying.

Arlo 'repaired' Athena, apparently someone messed with something called a 'limiter' which suppressed her personality. And that someone, Conway called Arlo's teacher.. though Arlo quickly shut that conversation back down. Everything after that kinda happened like a blur. Conway and Arlo upgraded the armour, Cam departed to go kill some dragon or another, Conway then jumped off into the distance at ridiculous speeds, and finally, Arlo and Sasha disappeared into a portal to spend some time going over what they'd missed. It had been a long time apparently.. So it makes sense.

I'm not too sure what to do now. I think I'll head out and try to find some kind of.. civilisation. Maybe. Though that comes with it's own risks. I've come to realise that life really doesn't wait for you, and neither do the people in it. With how quickly they all just.. disappeared, and now it's just me and Athena at the cabin. On the plus-side, Arlo gave me level six clearance so I have access to most of the necessary data to do most stuff.

Well then. Wish me luck I guess. I'm going to forge my own way in this world, and whoever ends up reading this.. I hope my journey can assist you in yours.