Chapter 79: Relief (Patreon)

Light appears in the distance between the trees.

I want to ask about it, but the group speeds up at the sight, so I assume it’s friendly territory.

The walk becomes faster and faster as we approach the gate.

“HALT!” a heavy voice yells over the wall.

Nervously, my feet come to a stop.

The rest of the group ignores the warning and walks toward the gate as if nothing had been said.

They yell again. “Take another step and be-”

“Shut the fuck up and let us in, Fayon!” A man at the front of the group yells back.

Only silence comes in response.

My nerves grow stronger.

After a few seconds, the gate pulls open, and a man quickly runs out.

I tense and prepare to fight, but the man at the front of the group does the same, running at the man that just left.

They meet and pull each other into a hug.

The tension leaves my body.

More people exit the gate as the group walks up to meet them.

Hugging, the two men don’t bother to hide their feelings and cry in each other’s arms.

“Ursic, my brother, I thought you were dead. I thought it was the end.”

“I don’t die that easily, Fayon.” He returns with a smile, tears streaming down his face.

A warmth spreads through my chest.

It was worth it.

In the end, it was worth it.

Fayon grabs his brother by the shoulders and holds him out. “How? How did you escape the rancid’s stronghold?”

Ursic raises an eyebrow before turning to me. “Didn’t you have the capital send Kevin?”

All eyes turn to me.

“Ah, uhh… Hi.”

Fayon gives his brother the same confused expression. “The capital? The attack twenty cycles ago took out the communication array. We haven’t spoken with the capital since then.”

Confused gazes target me, with some turning suspicious.

“Yeah… about that…” I say sheepishly.

Fayon’s eyes narrow as he walks towards me.

Ursic raises a hand and slaps his brother on the back of his head.

Hard.

“Fayon you bastard, he saved us. let him be.” He gestures to me. “Look! He’s carrying an unconscious woman and a child! Why hasn’t anyone helped him yet!?”

Thank you, Ursic.

Fayon has the dignity to look shameful as he turns back to me. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have been rude. I am Fayon Herten, the fourth commander of Fort Basilisk.”

He bows, which makes me even more flustered as everyone watches.

“No, it’s alright, really. I didn’t take any offense.” I start to offer him a hand, then realize I'm still carrying the unconscious woman.

He gasps and reaches out, taking her in his arms. “Where are my manners?”

“Hen! Get over here and get the kid! Junsey, wake up Rannil and get him cooking!” He yells over his shoulder, turning to look at his brother.

“We need a feast to celebrate!” His voice is full of gusto as he looks at his brother.

The sight makes me chuckle.

It feels good to know I did this.

Despite the thought, Yugo’s father doesn’t leave my mind.

Someone takes Yugo off my shoulders as I’m led into the gates.

Different members of the slave group split up and spread among the waves of soldiers that come out to greet them.

A gentle hand lays on my back.

Turning, I see the slave who slapped me and brought me out of my thoughts earlier.

He looks at me somberly. “I know.”

“Huh? Know what?” I ask.

“I know that look. You tried your best. You don’t ha-”

In an instant, the surroundings vanish.

The moonlight is replaced by the eerie lighting of the dungeon. The light, cool breeze is replaced with stale, regulated air.

To my left, the starry orb, standing on a pillar of system cobblestone.

Fuck you, system.

I really needed to hear that.

Sighing, I lean against the wall and slide down it.

The dried blood from my last mission still sits beneath the podium.

It sets in.

This is my new normal.

I won’t always be fighting alone, and sometimes, my allies will be weaker than my enemies.

Blasting my enemies away with my punches is addicting, but it doesn’t come without a cost.

With my thoughts in a boil, I finally receive the system.

[   You have slain-

Since I didn’t level up, I skip to the skill increases.

[   High Human’s Musculature(lv. 8) > (lv. 9)   ]

[   Companion’s Assistance(lv. 0) > (lv. 2)   ]

It’s become clear that I’m growing faster than the difficulty curve of the exfiltration missions.

The days of ten or fifteen skill level-ups are gone.

Although it was difficult to protect the slaves, the soldiers themselves posed no threat to me.

[   Primary Objective: Completed   ]

[   Secondary Objective: Failed   ]

The pain in my heart surges, then becomes suppressed by the command.

It feels… wrong.

Like I’m disrupting the natural order of things.

Yugo’s father.

I didn’t even know his name.

His face flashes through my mind constantly.

My emotions and the command clash, leaving behind nothing.

Instead of logic or pain, all I feel is… nothing.

Like his death was nothing more than a stone I passed while walking in the city.

The feeling is disgusting.

Even worse than grieving.

I want to command myself to forget it all, but it seems like a step too far.

The convenience of such a thing… If I fall to the temptation, I might not stop myself next time.

Regardless, I’m on a timer.

I need to gain as much as I can from the tutorial while I’m here.

[   Title Upgraded: (II) Solo Stomper > (III) Solo Stomper   ]

[   (III) Solo Stomper   ]

[   Awarded to users who have completed 3 exfiltration situations during the solo phase of the system’s tutorial for new galaxies   ]

[   Grants a 3% increase to all stats   ]

Nothing new here. The pattern is predictable.

As expected, a crate doesn’t show up this time.

I rub my hands over my face and get to my feet.

I’m not feeling too tired, so I think I’ll just brute-force recover my stamina with stamina stomach.

System, resources.

[Health: 2024]

[Mana: 1020]

[Stamina: 1844(1394)]

Dang, even with the use of companion’s assistance, the cost isn’t very noticeable.

My endurance is that ‌monstrous.

Walking back to the hallway, I see Brax’s room cracked open.

Pushing it further, I look inside to see him at his desk, covered in papers.

Several staves sit haphazardly against his bed and bookshelves.

“Yo.”

Brax jumps in place and snaps his head to me, expression softening.

“Back already?” He turns back to his book.

“Yeah, I’m about to head out again. Are you up for a meal?”

“Eh… I don’t know. I’m a bit deep, and-” His gaze flickers to me.

He adopts an unreadable expression, then sighs and grabs his book.

“You know what? Sure.” He stands and follows me.

Some of the weight on my shoulders fades.

As we walk through the endless corridors, I tell Brax about all ‌the missions I’ve gone on, from the settlement defense, to the airship sinking, to the protection mission I just went on.

My voice trails off as I get to the moment where Yugo’s father passes away.

“I just wish I could have done more. What would you have done there? Was there a way to deal with the archers and the people from the stronghold?”

Brax looks thoughtful. “How high of a level were they?”

Also curious, I pull up the system prompts.

“About forty on average. There were a few in tier three.”

He nods seriously. “I would have died.”

I turn with an eyebrow raised. “Wait, what?”

“Yup. My best chance would have been to hole up in the room with the slaves and build a tunnel, but that would’ve taken days. Not to mention the guy that ambushed you. He probably would have killed me within the first few seconds.”

“Really?”

“Kevin, you killed several people levels higher than you. Surely, you can understand how absurd that sounds, right?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Despite his words, it doesn’t make me feel any better.

When we get to the kitchen, I search through the fridge for the biggest thing in there, which is a pack of massive turkey legs.

Of course, it’s probably an alien equivalent of turkey, but it looks close enough.

I hold the package up. “How many do you want?”

He shrugs. “Two?”

I nod, emptying the bag of twenty on several pans.

“Kevin! I said two legs, not two bags!”

I give him a blank look. “I know.”

“No. There’s no way you can eat all of that.”

His words make me grin. “You wanna bet?”

The confidence on his face fades. “... no.”

Nodding, I slide the trays of meat into the oven. “Smart guy.”

The knobs on the oven are similar to home, but the measurements are all in alien writing.

Come on system.

Your accessibility is horrible.

Going with my gut, I set a time and a temperature.

With nothing to do but wait, both of us stand silently.

It doesn’t take long for Brax to get buried in his book again.

A few minutes pass, and the boredom is too much to bear.

“Wanna spar?”

The sentence hits Brax like a truck. “What? Us?”

“Yeah! It’ll be fun!” I give him a big smile.

“Uh, no thanks.”

“Aww, come on.” I sigh and slouch with exaggeration.

“I’ve never fought before. I think you’d crush me.”

“How about this, I’ll just tap you on the head, and we’ll call it a win. If you trap me, then you win.”

“The last time you tried to tap me on the head, you almost shattered my skull.”

“I promise I’ll be extra careful this time.” I say, crossing my hands and giving a perfect picture of gentleness.

He snorts. “Fine. But if you kill me, I’ll haunt you.”

“Sounds good to me!”

Finally.

Time to fight a real, bona fide mage.

Both of us move into the dining room, which has lots of open space away from the main table.

We stand thirty feet apart, facing each other.

“Ready?” I ask.

Brax doesn’t speak, keeping his eyes closed for more than twenty seconds before opening.

“Ready.”

The moment he speaks, I lunge.

My legs bend, and I speed toward him.

Shock grows on his face, but he quickly wipes it away.

His arm sticks out, and he pulls.

A wall of stone brick erupts several feet from the ground and blocks my path in an instant.

What!? How!?

Stumbling over myself, I’m barely able to get my feet in front of me and cancel the momentum.

I stabilize and run to the side, but another wall erupts in my path.

Two more walls do the same, boxing me in.

This isn’t like the slow grinding pillars I make.

These are fast and decisive.

The tops of the walls grow inward, forming a roof to trap me.

My grin grows as I leap.

The roof finishes just as I clear it and rise into the air.

Brax’s gaze focuses on me as I fall to the ground.

Danger burns at the front of my chest as a pillar pushes toward me.

Without the ability to turn, it hits me as intended in the chest, driving me back into the wall and kicking the air from my lungs.

I struggle to catch my breath for a second.

Concern paints Brax’s face as he runs to me. “I’m sorry! I- I didn’t think I’d- are you okay!?”

“Kevin, move perfectly” I choke out.

My chest jolts to life.

The colossal lungs inside pull in air like a vacuum and jerk me to my feet.

Brax stumbles to a stop at my movement.

“Surrendering?” I smile.

His face turns into something uncertain before he nervously smiles and focuses.

Danger.

I jerk to the left, another pillar shooting out of the ground.

Slipping around it, I dash toward him.

My next step lands on nothing as the ground beneath it deforms.

I trip and land on my hands.

The ground ripples and moves like liquid, attempting to grab my hands.

Jerking my arms back, I get to my feet and jump away.

The rippling stone solidifies and turns back to normal.

Damn! I didn’t know Brax could do this!

I look up to see him with eyes closed, several fist-sized chunks of stone rising from the ground in front of him.

His eyes snap open, and they shoot at me.

My waist bends backward as they fly overhead and burst against the wall.

I flick back up and bend my legs.

When I leap, my feet keep me anchored to the ground.

My eye flicks down.

My feet are ‌buried in stone.

Again, several chunks of stone rise in front of Brax.

The command stifles my alarm and forces me to think.

Stasis! Three seconds!

I choose the stone at my feet as an anchor.

The stone projectiles fly at me as my body pulls itself inward.

A flash of black, and the projectiles are gone.

My gauntlet forms over my arm, and I punch at the stone on my feet.

It’s crushed apart, a jolt of pain telling me I hit something underneath.

Thankfully, the pain is suppressed by the command.

I strike the other foot and free myself, launching at Brax again.

Another pillar erupts at an angle from the ground, aimed directly at my head.

My fist comes back, and I thrust.

A second, ethereal fist joins me as I make contact.

The strike blasts the pillar apart with a burst of dust and debris, as I continue undeterred.

Brax’s eyes widen as I close the distance.

He slams his eyes shut and focuses.

When I get within twenty feet, he explodes with light.

My vision goes white and I’m forced to halt my assault.

I blink, but I can’t see anything.

Stone deforms under my feet and covers them.

Dammit!

Several seconds of blinking and rubbing my eyes pass before I can see anything.

Brax stands a few feet in front of me with a smug smile on his face.

I reach down to crush the stone at my feet, but it’s been piled on up to my knees.

“I guess this is my win?” His voice is full of condescension.

Slumping and reverting my gauntlets into bracers, I sigh. “I guess…”

I slip my hand into my back pocket and pull out the rune for stone pillar.

“NOT!” 

Stasis! One second!

I set the rock as the anchor and toss it at his feet.

The world pulls into blackness before blinking back.

Brax jumps back, only being a foot away.

It’s too late.

My arm thrusts forward.

He braces for impact, but my hand gently taps ‌his head.

Stumbling, he falls onto his butt.

“Well, looks like it’s my win after all.” I say cheekily.