Arrival

Garrick's face is beet red and strained as he drags the ridiculous-sized sword to the sand, realising he made a terrible decision. Still, with Kyra watching, he can't admit his mistake, so he now has the pleasure of dragging this hunk of metal to the sand and getting his ass kicked by BUDI. Leaning back almost horizontally, pulling with all his might as the weapon grinds into the flooring, showing a path of no more than fifteen feet. After the arduous journey to the sand pit, he stands hunched over, exhausted, spitting on the floor every few seconds.

"Just put the stupid sword back already. You can barely move with it; how the hell you gonna swing it?" Kyra holds an arrow in her hand as she traces it back and forth along the sword. "You're a big, strong man; don't need to prove yourself anymore," as she rolls her eyes so much so they're bound to fall out.

"Pipe down and feast your eyes on this! Strength Activate!" Garrick roars a mighty shout of activation as he lifts the sword off the ground. His arms shake with exertion, clearly struggling with the heavy blade but still rather impressive as he shakily turns his head towards Kyra and raises his eyebrows. 

"Wait, the activation words for this spell is... 'strength activate'?" There is a brief pause as silence fills the air, making it almost palpable. Then, a snort, followed by full-blown laughter from Kyra, who collapses to the floor unable to control her body from laughing so much. "That spell was made for you!"

Kyra's shrieks of laughter cause Garrick to lose concentration on the spell, making the sword slam back down, splintering the wood.

"oh no, you dropped your sword. Better 'strength activate' it back up!" Kyra's already deafening laughter reaches new levels, shaking the foundations while Garrick mumbles the activation phrase, lifting the sword again and moving onto the sand, activating BUDI.

"Participant Garrick Goldwind detected. Level two activating."

With one hand on the grip of the sword and the other on the hilt, Garrick cautiously steps towards BUDI, whose eyes glow and stare back with an unnerving aura. When in sword range, Garrick thrusts forward, the weighty sword sliding him forward as BUDI casually sidesteps. Undeterred, Garrick places one hand on the flat of his blade and sweeps it around, smashing into BUDI and creating a gust of wind that kicks up the sand across the chamber. Even though the sweeping strike didn't have much power behind it, BUDI's armour cracks and is thrown backwards.

"Abnormal exertion detected. Recalibrating danger level. Level three activating."

"Skipping levels? Pfft, that's some bullshit," Kyra, once laying back, legs kicked up on a table, now has sat up, immersed in the fight.

Garrick spins with the sword, trying to create enough momentum to generate the speed needed to cut BUDI in half, but just increasing the battle level by one is noticeable as BUDI doesn't just dodge the incoming attack but ducks under the blade and charges forward taking Garrick by surprise at the agility. Quick to react himself, Garrick pulls with all his might to alter the course of the sword downwards, slamming the greatsword on top of BUDI, who, again, is too agile. Throwing its weapon and shield to one side, it throws its body the other way, staying upright and pushing off the sand in one fluid motion as BUDI cannons toward Garrick, punching him cleanly in the face, causing Garrick to recoil backwards, blood running from his nose down his face as he thuds against the ground. Now in control, BUDI springs back, landing on Garrick's weapon, stopping him from using the sword against it, running along it to reach its sword.

"Bad mistake, you bag of scrap!" Garrick lifts the sword overhead from a seating position, lifting BUDI along with it and throws it behind himself as he uses the leverage of the swing to lift himself up. Now, Garrick stands between BUDI and its weapon and shield. A smirk grows across Garrick's face as he stares, waiting for his moment to strike. BUDI shuffles forward cautiously, then bursts into a mad dash for its sword. Garrick swings his sword across the torso of BUDI, confident he'll land a hit this time, but moments before impact, BUDI separates its torso, allowing the blade to pass through, then reconnects itself in a smooth motion, not wasting a step as it continues charging forward, hell-bent on the goal of retrieving its weapons.

"Cheating little fuck!" Garrick yells, carrying the blade's momentum around his body, slamming it down just as BUDI grips its sword but doesn't move as it falls apart in two pieces, slicing through the armour cleanly. BUDI collapses to the ground, arm still clutching its blade.

Garrick drops the greatsword and repeatedly opens and closes his hands while wincing, the heavy two-handed weapon taking a toll on the muscles of his arms as pain pulses through his arms, shooting upwards.

"Guess we're both on level four now, huh?" Garrick winks at Kyra as he drags the greatsword off the sand.

"Don't get so full of yourself. You're a sloppy fighter, and the fact you survived as long as you did with the guild is a miracle. I won't let myself become weaker than someone like that." Kyra glares, gripping the arrow tightly enough that it begins to crack and splinter.

The destroyed armour begins to reform itself as anticipated in the centre of the sand.

"Participant Garrick Goldwind. Level three is completed," BUDI speaks, but Garrick pays no mind to it, still focusing on his strained arms.

"Not going for level four?" Kyra smugly asks, leaning back on her seat and kicking her feet back up on the table.

"You don't realise it when you're so focused on fighting, but it's fucking exhausting swinging that thing around, even for a minute." Garrick chuckles a little, his face laced with worry as he rubs his forearms with his scarred hands. "I'll give it a shot later when my arms don't feel like they're gonna fall off."

A sudden commotion is heard from the reading chamber, inviting Garrick and Kyra to investigate.

"OH, I'VE MISSED YOU BOTH SO MUCH!" Meetle's wobbly voice shrieks with joy as it bounces throughout the marbled chamber, reaching Kyra and Garrick as they continue walking through the hall.

"I think I can guess who showed up." Garrick walks beside Kyra while smiling. The reading chamber comes into view as the area opens up. Meetle is seen hugging a Gnome woman tightly, his presumed wife, Jessolyn, with their infant daughter, Symeera, squished between them both. Araval and Lillian stand at the sanctum entrance, smiling warmly at the much-needed reunion.

"Lillian told me you got hurt out there in the wilderness. What happened to you, Lalrin?" Jessolyn shakes with worry as tears stream down her face in a mix of fear and happiness that Meetle is alive.

"Let us enjoy this moment, dear. I promise to tell you the whole story later tonight." Meetle kisses his wife and holds her close as Symeera's face is still squished together.

Kyra and Garrick stand in the doorway, watching as they let Meetle enjoy his family reunion without interruptions. Garrick watches on fondly, and Kyra not so much.

"Three Gnomes now. Low at how big their noses are." Kyra leans towards Garrick, speaking out of the corner of her mouth.

"You got big ears yourself, but you don't see me complaining." Garrick leans against the doorframe, arms crossed, raising his eyebrows at Kyra.

"Garrick! Kyra! Come meet my family!" Meetle cheerily squeals as he ushers his family to them, his smile as wide as his face.

Garrick places his hand on Kyra's back and pushes her forward. "Ladies first, Elf."

"Asshole!" Kyra mumbles under her breath, faking a smile as Meetle presents his family. Jessolyn has brown wavy hair and is slightly shorter than Meetle, and the infant, Symeera, is well, mostly nose currently with a small tuft of brown hair on top of her hair.

"I sure love Gnomes. Good to meet you lot." Kyra painfully speaks, her fake smile beginning to hurt her cheeks as the corners of her mouth shake. Jessolyn reaches her hand out, and Kyra reluctantly shakes her hand. Symeera, seeing this, pulls her hand from her mouth, covered in a mountain of drool, and reaches her little hand out as saliva drips onto the floor. Kyra stares unimpressed at the messy hand as Meetle quickly uses his shirt to wipe his daughter's hand as he giggles nervously.

"Messy baby, sorry about that! Jessolyn, the woman here is Kyra, and the man is Garrick. I owe them both my life, especially Garrick.

"You're a kind man for helping my husband," Jessolyn reaches out to shake Garrick's hand, who declines the advance.

"Sorry my hands are a bit dirty from training earlier, but I appreciate you saying that. Truth be told, your husband has also helped me a lot, so he doesn't owe me a thing." Garrick shows his dirty hands and then pats Meetle on the shoulder.

Araval coughs to gain the attention of the party. "I apologise for interjecting. Lillian and I are required elsewhere for now. Later, a meal will be laid out in the dining room for you all to eat and enjoy each other's company." Araval lowers his head slightly before they both take their leave.

"Let me show you guys around. Garrick, Kyra, we'll see you later on at dinner." Meetle cheerily speaks while his daughter continues to drool as she rolls her head around and babbles baby nonsense. Kyra chimes up once they leave.

"The kid's nose is so big it can't even keep its head upright." Kyra chuckles while shaking her head.

"Leave the kid alone. It's your turn with BUDI anyway." Garrick flicks her ear, poking out through her red hair.

"OI! Watch it!" Kyra smacks Garrick's arm away, storming back into the training chamber.

Sometime later, everyone sits at the dining table, eating and enjoying a feast similar to what they had when they woke up starved. Everyone is visibly happy and laughing except Lillian and Araval, who look at each other solemnly.

End chapter