A Flicker

Both Mark and Ras stood at the edge of Stormterror's Liar, on top of a small hill, as they surveyed the area below. Mark took out his paper and tried to make some small points here and there from what he saw. Ras stared at him for a while before taking another look at the ruins.

The walls were somehow standing quite strongly, but bridges and other buildings were nothing more than piles of broken stones. Large chunks from where they fought Dvalin were scattered around, making for a warlike sight.

"This place looks like Oppenheimer sent some 'gifts' this way," laughed Ras, looking around intently.

Mark chuckled, getting back up as he finished preparing the paper.

"Well, something like this did happen, if I'm not wrong. Kaenri'ah, a war among the gods that took place 500 years ago Some relics from that time still linger around. Ruin guards and other machines are a result of that advanced society. Truth be told, I think some of their technology was more advanced than what we have back in our world."

Ras listened to his words, his back turned to Mark as he glanced once more at the remnants of the golden age of humans.

"That's why I have issues with gods and the like," said Ras, his voice more like a faint whisper carried over by the wind. His words made their way into Mark's ear, who prompted him with a nudge to the side.

"Hey, don't mix the pots in here, dude. The deal is simple: they're not true gods. Call me whatever; I know damn well there's One True God, so I can compare these guys to Him. The Archons...Celestia...they were scared for some reason. The Abyss...that's as far as I remember for now."

He tapped Ras on the shoulder.

"So let's put these things aside for now and work on our task: I need to map out this place, and at the same time, we should get rid of the monsters that lurk around."

He leapt down, falling on his feet, his fall attenuated by a gust of wind. He kept using it in whatever he did, forcing himself to adapt and learn. 

Ras followed, his legs bending like springs, absorbing the shock of the fall.

"So, let's walk around for now. I'd like to map out the exterior walls at first, then move towards the center."

Mark began counting his steps, trying to approximate one as a meter. He had a bit of a clue as to how large his step should be to make the approximation better, but Ras found his step to be rather awkward when he did that.

"Do you really have to walk like you just shat yourself? Really?" said Ras, his voice monotone as if tired of Mark's antics.

"Well, excuse me for wanting to do a good job. You better take some lessons from me. You'll never know when you'll need these abilities."

Walking around was rather boring for them. Mark kept writing down things on his piece of paper, while Ras took care of a lost hilichurl here and there. No actual threat came their way, which Mark was really eager for: he wanted to fight alongside Ras and test out some things that came to him during battle.

"God, I'm so bored. I'd rather have some ruin guards, or whatever comes our way. Heck, even those guys feel boring now that I think about it."

Ras said nothing, walking freely around, looking around with interest in his eyes.

"This place seems interesting, but yes, I'm bored as well."

Mark drew something on his piece of paper, then put it away.

"At least we're done with the outer wall. The rest should be easier and filled with more battles. I think you can see the hilchurl camps scattered around,right?"

Ras looked and nodded, counting them inside his mind.

"Damn, 10 camps just here? This sure is something."

Mark smirked, putting his makeshift map away for a moment.

"Time to go bananza with it, boi."

He began dashing towards one camp, and Ras followed alongside him. He had to use some of his stored energy to catch up with Mark, who was naturally faster when it came to running.

"Oh, hey, look who's keeping up with me. Sure feels nice to have a brother with you when you're about to take on a large number of monsters."

His words came to a halt at the same time they did. The hilichurs decided to come out and greet them.

"Some samachurls and elemental hilichurls alongside the normal bunch. Ras, take care of their elemental energy; I'll focus on gathering them up."

An Anemo and a Dendor sawchurl began casting something, winds rushing to form whirlwinds, vines growing towards them. Ras was quick to absorb them, while Mark rushed in, the same crimson hue surrounding him as he began swinging his claymore around, cutting them down like butter. Before the hilichurls could even attack them properly, the battle was over.

"This shit is no fun, my dude. Sure, we have good synergy, but we need to fight people or something—someone who can put up a fight."

Ras nodded, checking how much energy he had stored. His reserve was filled to the brim, so he quickly released some of it, shattering a boulder with pure energy.

"Mark me impressed, and damn, I just remembered how good my name is for puns."

Mark placed his hands on his head as he had a little existential crisis, while Ras looked over at the remaining camps.

"Mark, sorry to stop your crisis, but we have some more work left to do in here."

Mark stood up, his expression a mixture of many feelings, all of them contradictory, but he smirked amidst all that.

"Sure, let's finish the job."

They began attacking the camps, taking down hilichurl after hilichurl, and Mark couldn't help but try some tricks along the way. At one point, he grabbed Ras and sent him flying like a projectile, using Anemo to boost him. Ras placed his fists forward, charging them with energy, hitting mitachurls square in the face, knocking them cold.

Their boredom was quickly quenched, and what it took was for them to fight in an unconventional way. Two hours had passed, and by that time, the ruins were clear. Surprisingly, they found no trace of any ruin guards.

"Well, at least I can now continue mapping out things. Time to get bored again."

Ras sat down, having decided that walking around with Mark would bore him as well. Instead, he walked right into the center, noticing that nothing was blocking his access.

"I think Mark mentioned something was odd when he saw no trace of the barrier."

He stepped in, and to his disappointment, the place was empty. Worn-down walls, broken stairs, and dust were the only things that remained.

He sighed, turning around, ready to walk out, but something caught his eye. For some reason, he saw a faint light move around.

"I should have taken my pills."

As he turned around once more, the light flickered before his face. A floating particle of light flicked before his face before stopping there, lingering before his very eyes.

"Ugh, am I seeing things? This doesn't look like a seelie or whatever Mark said they're called."

The little glow began moving frantically around before moving around the place. Ras picked up the fact that it wanted him to follow, and so he did just that.

"It should be fine, right? Mark will find me if something happens."