Reunion

Chapter 136: Reunion

Ruvah listened to Mercury quite closely. Mercury decided to leave out most of the parts before he was transported to this world, but his newfound friend didn't seem to mind very much. Instead, Ruvah seemed quite interested when he, his pronouns had changed again, heard that people could escape from a blood eclipse. It gave him some hope that perhaps, a few people form his droplet were still alive.

It was a fairly vain hope, with very little success of being truthful, but it was some motivation at least. Mercury certainly wasn't in a position to judge him, given that he'd just been thinking he'd revive the people he'd lost, which usually would be an even more impossible thing.

Still, for a while, Ruvah remained quiet, taking in the revelation that some of his family may live, when someone else entered the tent.

Jirluc looked up at the noise, nodding as he recognized who entered. "You're back," he simply stated, raising himself from the floor. "I believe introductions may be in order."

Perhaps, for Ruvah they were. But Mercury knew who he saw instantly. It was a wolf with light gray fur, though the colour lightened to white around its legs, spine, and eyes. There was some dried blood stuck on it, but its wounds seemed to have scabbed over already. Piercing yellow eyes shot a glance through the tent, trailing from Jirluc over to Ruvah and Mercury, before they widened and Juno gasped.

"Mercury," she whispered, almost unable to believe her eyes, taking another step forward.

The mopaaw had halfway frozen up, shaken out of his stupor as sh approached. "You- Juno, you're... you're okay, I-" he couldn't even properly get another sentence out, before his larger companion threw herself at him in happiness.

"You're alive," she said, pushing her head up against his flank. "You're alive!"

"You too!" Mercury grinned, feeling a knot in his stomach. It was a strange mix of happiness and dread, knowing that Juno was alive meant that Gladiator and Second were probably dead, but he pushed it aside for now, simply revelling in the fact that he found one of them again. It was such a strange feeling, back on Earth he'd hardly have gotten attached to someone so quick, but when you're stranded on another world, fighting for your life and spending every day with people, maybe bonds were forged a little faster.

Jirluc seemed a little taken aback by Juno's reaction, simply staring at the two for a moment before speaking again. "You know each other, then?" he asked.

"Ah, yes," Mercury quickly nodded. "I met Juno when I was doing a quest in a forest, it was to defeat the leaders of it. One of those was a pack of wolves, which she was part of, and since they agreed to be my subordinates, that apparently meant I'd defeated them."

"Indeed. My liege was the one who gave me the opportunity to properly interact with the system. I owe him much for that," Juno added, making Mercury shift awkwardly. He'd kind of forgotten that the wolves called him something so weirdly grand.

"Please just call me Mercury, Juno. I was, uh, a little full of myself back when I made you call me a king."

"As you wish," the wolf quickly agreed, then gazed over at Ruvah again. "Who is this, if I may ask?"

"Oh, that's Ruvah. He's someone I met in here, out in the ashen plains. I wouldn't have made it this far without him," the mopaaw explained. "Ruvah, this is Juno, a companion of mine who got lost in here quite some time ago."

"Nice to meet you, Juno," Ruvah said, waving his tail.

"I'm sorry, was he speaking to me?" Juno asked, unsure what to make of the senseless gurgles she heard.

"Right, yeah, you can't understand him. Ruvah says it's nice to meet you," he translated.

"It is a pleasure to meet you too, Ruvah. Thank you for keeping my l- Mercury alive," the wolf said, nodding at the strange creature, and Mercury translated once again, before turning back to Juno.

"I have to ask though, how did you survive, Juno?"

For a moment, the wolf shook her head, then turned to face him. "I avoided fights wherever I could, conserving my energy, only occasionally hunting. One of the creatures I killed was some sort of spiked ball, filled with a strange gel. After hunting a few more of them, they dropped it into my inventory, and luckily, it was nutritious and rich in water, which allowed me to stave off dehydration for long enough to find Jirluc."

"Other than that, there is not much to add," she said. "I stalked my way across the wasteland, trying to find anything of note, until eventually I saw this hut and approached. Ever since then, I have been working together with Jirluc as a scout."

The Sipisc in question just nodded. "We survive," he shrugged, "but enough of that. Juno, what did you find out about the mansion?"

"More scouts are leaving. I saw a few jump from the windows, even. Many of them seem to be trickling further out into the wasteland, but there's plenty simply scavenging for any monsters stupid enough to get close to the building. Occasionally, some will make it back from far out, dragging cocoons behind them," she explained.

"The cocoons are probably filled with what they hunt," Mercury added. "I was in one of them when a servant brought me through the rift. It thought I was dead, so I'd guess it's how they store food."

"Concerning," Jirluc mused. "If they are bringing prey to the mansion, what would they be feeding?"

"Have you ever been inside?" Mercury asked.

"No, none of us have," Jirluc said. "It's suicide. That place is where the servants come from, it's crawling with them. Maybe we could take out enough to make it there, but we'd be loud enough to attract the others. There'd be a hoard of them and only a few of us."

Mercury frowned at that. "They're blind though, right?"

The sipisc snorted at that. "Yes, they are, but their sense of smell is incredible, especially when they catch a whiff of blood. But the ones closer to the mansion aren't like the lost servants, they're smarter, more sane. They won't simply become a mad horde if you throw a corpse their way."

Great, now the monsters could even think. Like there wasn't enough to deal with.

"Jirluc is right," Juno agreed. "The mansion is dangerous. We could distract the servants with bags or flasks of blood, and perhaps make it in there, but to what end? They would swarm us eventually. There is little sense in that."

"Fine, what do you wish to do then?" Mercury asked, exasperated. Did they seriously have no ambition to escape anymore?

"Survive," the sipisc grumbled. "I'm content making it day by day out here."

"Fine then," Mercury acquiesced, "we simply survive for now. But if there's an opportunity, we take it."

Jirluc snorted again. "Depends entirely on the opportunity. I'm not dying a miserable death."

Juno gave him a much softer look than the sipisc, though even hers was still doubtful. "I will follow you, Mercury, if it makes sense to do so. But I have faith that your promise of an opportunity will be worthwhile." With that, she gave him another nod, and went to lay down on one of the furs, finally getting some rest. It must have been a long day for her.

Their words left Mercury feeling conflicted. He understood why they'd given up on attempting an escape. Looking at the mansion, he knew it himself. If he tried to go in there as he was now, he'd be slaughtered. There were simply too many of the servant.

But at the same time, hearing them say they were willing to give him a shot showed they still had a spark of hope. For now, he'd just have to bide his time and make it through the days. Once he took down the nexus of the dream, he hoped there would be a chance. No, there had to be one. He'd create a chance for them all, no matter what.

- - - - - -

Avery was panting heavily, standing far away from the city walls. His chest rose and sunk under his mail, each heave sending shivers of pain throughout his body. He'd fought again, just now. A group of goblins which had migrated into the forest and just begun spreading. There were a few hobgoblins and shamans among them, but all of them fell before Avery as well.

Unfortunately for him, they got a few hits in. A wooden club had shattered against his upper back, and his shoulder blade burnt in pain. One of the shamans had gotten clever and cast a snowstorm, giving him some frostbite, and one of the little fuckers had managed to slash at his leg, a trail of blood trickling from a shallow cut.

Overall, it wouldn't have been that bad, but the wounds were beginning to pile up on him. This was not his first skirmish since the last time he'd been inside the city, and he was sure it would not be his last. His whole body ached, his muscles sore and his skin bruised. The metal shoes felt so heavy against his feet, like he'd chained boulders to his soles.

But he wouldn't go soft on himself just yet. Caked in blood and dirt, he still felt like it wasn't enough. He would make up for his failure, one way or another.

His lungs worked like bellows, barely slowing down as the extra muscle he conjured up from the system disappeared. Shedding the weight barely helped with his exhaustion, and he was only becoming more aware of his aches as the adrenaline left his system. Nevertheless, he began to walk.

If he didn't eat, he would fall, simple as that. Avey refused to fall. Therefore, he would hunt something to eat.

With slow, heavy steps, he began stalking through the forest, straining his blurry vision. He tried to listen for animals, but could only make out the rushing of his own blood. No, wait. There was a tiny sound, a bird flapping its wings once. In a shocking display of speed, Avery tossed a rock.

An impact sounded out, and he moved towards the site with heavy steps, reaching down and plucking a dead cuckoo off the ground. It was a relatively large one, and while it probably wouldn't do for a full meal, he could hunt again once he'd eaten a bit.

Slowly, Avery trudged through the forest back to his campside. There were still embers left from his last fire, easy to reignite, which he was thankful for. He tossed a piece of kindling onto them, watching as it caught flame before carefully adding more wood. He mindlessly kept his hand close to the flame for too long, but barely even felt the sting of the heat.

After surviving his last ordeal, he at least came away with a resistance to being burnt, which was something to be happy about. The levels also put him close to his next evolution. But all that was within due time. For now, he plucked the feathers off the bird as the fire began to crackle some more.

The sky was cloudy. It looked like it would rain soon. He should go out and look for something to eat before that, he thought, then his head twitched. Footsteps.

His head snapped towards the noise, and he was on his feet before he could even think, his mind on a razor's edge. He listened more closely, realized the steps were human, and grew even more wary, sinking into a familiar posture. His knees bent, his left arm in front of his face, and the right extended slightly in front of his chest in a guard.

A figure stepped out from the trees. Marcel, he recognized, blinking to clear his vision.

Avery attempted to croak out a greeting, but his voice failed him, only a raspy groan leaving his lips. He spit some blood aside and held back a fit of laughter, simply staring at Marcel.

"Happy to see you too, boss," the receptionist said with a frown. "You look like shit."

For a moment, Avery's chest shook at that, then he coughed, and sat back down to continue plucking the bird's feathers. He was unsure how he felt about marcel coming to visit him. He felt glad, but at the same time, he wished he left him alone.

"I'm glad you're still alive," the blonde man remarked. "It'd almost be impressive if you weren't being so extreme about it."

He received a snort as an answer, though Avery's lips moved for a bit and he coughed up a little bit of blood again. The guildmaster hoped that after a few more tries he might get out a couple words, but he had time until his food was done.

"I brought bread," Marcel offered, but Avery pushed his hand away. The receptionist could tell that his friend's hands were shaking under the gloves. The push was even surprisingly gentle, but quite firm at the same time. "Still don't think you deserve the luxury, then."

It wasn't a question, but Avery shook hi head anyways, mouthing an answer that took shape halfway. He was getting there.

"Fine, then, have it your way," Marcel sighed. He'd gotten upset in the beginning, but there was no more anger left in him now. There was no sense in it, his friend wasn't budging on this, not even by a millimetre, and so he would simply work with what he had. "The city is growing again," he said.

A small rueful smile found itself on Avery's lips at that. "I'm glad," he croaked, his voice hoarse. It had taken him another three tries, but this was something he wanted to say. Eventually he would be back to the city, after all. Not just yet, but he would.

"Lots of people miss you there, too. We have a couple new recruits I'm sure you'd like as well. They've been doing good work cleaning up the streets," Marcel recounted, leaning his back against a tree. "Bishop Nemo is being less of a fuckhead than you'd think, but I'm pretty sure it's all politicking. My gut tells me his smile isn't genuine. So does <People Person>, but that's beside the point."

Avery huffed half a laugh at that. Yes, he was sure the bishop wasn't being quite honest about everything. "Snake," he mused. That old man wouldn't be happy until anyone who went against his precious Order was burnt at a stake if Avery trusted the reports from the other guildmasters. And he did.

"Sounds about right," Marcel nodded, then gave a sigh. He pulled a charr from his inventory and lit it, taking a long breath and exhaling the smoke into the canopy above. He thought about the grieving families and how many bodies he'd seen over the last few weeks, but elected not to mention all that. "How have you been faring?" he asked instead.

"Fine," the guildmaster replied. His body ached, and his vision remained slightly blurry, but that was fine, too. The system had long ago recognized what he was doing as a trial, and he wasn't expecting to see himself as worthy again without going through some serious growth.

"You know this isn't healthy right?" Marcel asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice, which prompted a hearty laugh from Avery for about half a second, before it tapered off into a coughing fit.

"I'll live," he simply answered, then took a breath. "I'm angry with myself, Marcel," he muttered. "I failed again."

The receptionist simply listened silently. It wasn't the first time Avery had said it, but the last few times he'd screamed it at his face, so really, Marcel could only see this as an improvement.

"My heart feels like it's on fire. I'm furious. I want to be with you all in the city. But I need to prove to myself that I deserve it first."

"You do in my eyes," Marcel muttered. "In all of our eyes."

His friend gave a small nod at that. "I-," he coughed again, "I know that. Of course I do." Avery's voice was shaky, his hands resting on his thighs, no longer moving to prepare the bird. A few drops of water landed on them. "I'll come back. I'm sure. I can make it through this, probably, I hope. Really."

"You better, man," Marcel said, a streak of water running down his cheek. "Fuck. I miss you so much, every day, you know that?"

"I do, of course I do. I miss you just as much, you jerk," Avery said, taking off his visor and wiping away his tears. It had started raining now, the impact of the drops resounding against the leavy roof of Avery's makeshift shelter. "Thanks for visiting. And listening. You ass."

"Anytime," Marcel whispered. "Any godsdamn time, whenever you need me." With that, he took another deep breath of the charr, before tossing it into the firepit. He slowly rose to his feet, laying a hand on Avery's shoulder. He squeezed it lightly. "I'll be back. Tomorrow, even. If you want to do me a favour, try to sleep properly tonight, for once. You fucking need it. Don't overdo yourself."

Avery simply nodded, knowing his voice would crack if he replied. Maybe it was time to go back soon. Just a few more days, just a little bit more, and he'd go back.

"I'll be off for now. If you need anything, you better let me know."

"I will," Avery murmured, his hands shakily ripping out feathers again. Marcel's footsteps slowly faded away in the distance, and Avery was alone with the crackling of the fire, the raindrops on the roof, and a bag of bread left on the floor for him.

For what felt like the first time in forever, there was a small smile on his face. He really didn't deserve friends like Marcel, he thought. But nevertheless, that day Avery had a meal of roasted bird, salty tears, and sweet raisin filled bread. Then, when he woke the next morning, he was greeted by his system.

[Acquired the Skill <Relentless Endurance lv. 1> through a specific action.]

[By braving extraordinary circumstances and pain, the individual has received additional rewards. Get: 4 levels, 10 Ability points, 500 Skill points, <Iron Will> Skill.]

He shook his head. How was Marcel always fucking right?