Fumito

Both Niko and Ivanic were walking down a spacious hall that stunned them regardless of how many times they walked in it. In fact, although the architecture of this castle was top-notch, the designs were sublime. It was as if these floral patterns on the wooden door and window frames were hand-designed, with the most focus and effort.

The sound of their steps on the brown wooden floor echoed as neither man made a sound. Niko's serious face showed how concerned he was for Fumito and his low optimism for the well-being of the older man. What he had just gone through was surely traumatizing to any human being, Niko completely understood it, however, he hoped that Fumito didn't take any drastic measures himself.

Approaching a door, Ivanic and Niko looked at one another and nodded, knocking on it thrice.

No response came from the other side.

After looking at one another again, they proceeded to knock again.

"Knock! Knock! Knock!" The knock echoed through the long spacious hall of the castle.

With thoughts of barging in to make sure everything within the room was alright, Niko raised his arm once more. However, as he was raising his hand, something which they were hoping for but not expecting happened. A voice came from the other side of the door, although it was low it was enough for them to hear.

"The door is unlocked. Just come in…" The voice sounded, and a feeling of relief overcame Niko as he turned the doorknob and opened the door slowly.

The room, although not compared to his own, was still quite spacious and comfortable looking, as there was a sizable window on the wall with a large bed, and some medieval-looking decor.

On the side of the bed was Fumito taking a seat, as he looked down, however, not as defeated as the last time they had interacted.

"We are glad you are ok…" Ivanic states and continues, "We thought that you…"

"What? Killed myself? Ended my own life? After people who I cared the most for lost theirs to make sure I kept mine? Now, how pointless and wasteful would that be? Not to mention disrespectful to their hard work." Fumito turned with a slight smile as his eyes sparkled with moisture, but despite the moisture within his eyes, there was a determined look in it.

Niko breathed a sigh of relief, as the worse had not occurred and they could possibly move on from this.

Fumito stood up and patted his clothes. Turning towards Ivanic and Niko with a smile he said, "I have run out of the food that I already had in my inventory… Is there food here?"

Ivanic showed a bright smile as he replied, "Let's go! I'll cook you up some food, there are parts of those pigs remaining!"

The mood suddenly took a different turn as everyone was quite content with the fact that Zheng and Fumito were still alive and well.

Ivanic was able to explain everything that had occurred while Fumito was going through his mental breakdown and recuperation. From creating a clan to information in regards to the territories around them.

Niko was quick to invite Fumito and Zheng to the clan as soon as they were available, as he wanted to proceed with his plan to gain power and go out to level up.

In regards to the items received by the two protectors who came to his territory to cause problems, they were handed out accordingly. Zheng took the bluish armor as he was adjusted to close combat. Ivanic took the short sword, as he kept it only to be used in dire situations, and lastly, Fumito took a liking to the longsword. Although initially, he was unable to wield it, however, because he had leveled up when they first took over this castle, he had not placed any of his skill points on himself yet, and since his skill was unaffected by his attributes, he placed his stat points in strength, which helped him wield the sword much easier and more efficiently.

Niko didn't really understand the path that these men were taking, and he was intrigued to see how they would end up. Although it was early, with himself, for example, he had a seed skill gem, hence a lot of his skills will be based on one another and make him more and more into a necromancer like a mage as he moves along. However, his teammates were different. He was unsure on whether Ivanic's skill was a seed skill or not, however, as he wields the short sword and the javelins, Niko was unsure of his progression. Zheng was a close combatant, and although his skill was useful, there was a low chance of a terrible backlash that could cost his life, whilst Fumito only had the flash-bang orb which didn't really tell much about their future concentration.

"Do I even need to concentrate though…" Niko thought as he wondered these things. He definitely needed more intelligence to control more spirits, but without his spirits what was he? What did he have? This was something that his brain constantly brainstormed, as he hoped to figure this out as he leveled.

The sun had yet to set, as everyone was in the common area of the castle discussing their next actions.

"We should stay in our territory and just clear it of any monsters around us. Having them here could pose a threat to us in the future." Zheng spoke as he was now healthier, and eager to improve and become stronger.

"I agree… besides, after clearing our territory, it wouldn't be a bad idea to explore the other territories around us. Knowing what's around could prove to be a huge advantage." Ivanic aid as he looked towards Niko.

Niko nodded as he thought, "The sun has yet to set… and I'm level 9 almost 10… Should I try to reach that today…?"

"I also feel like we should go to improve ourselves. Our enemies are strong." Fumito added as he was in a much better-looking shape than before.

Niko agreed. He knew that their enemies were strong, but the worse problem was not knowing them at all, and that was the case for the other territories around him.

Most importantly, if he reached level ten…

"Fine, we still have some time before it gets dark! Let's go see if we can clear our land of some monsters! Niko spoke, but although killing these monsters was important he couldn't wait to reach level 10, so he could finally open the Unique Bronze Box he gained from killing the rat shaman.