Chapter 31: This place

He pushed away the fabric and stepped into the tent expecting glamor or at the very least an overly decorated space but it was empty, blank with nothing but a wide map on the ground, spread like a mat with Jakob in the middle, legs crossed and a note in his hand. His head snapped up as he heard the sound of Rylan's footsteps.

“You all better?” He asked as his focus turned back to the map.

“Yeah.” Rylan answered, taking a seat in front of him. He studied the map beneath him, it was one of the region the forest was in, with changes made using markers probably to indicate irregularities caused by the merger. “You wanted to see me?”

“I did.” He replied then paused, closed the notepad and placed it beside him so his complete focus was now on Rylan. “I'm guessin you've gone ahead and had looksie around—”

“Where is Peter?” Rylan interrupted. Jakob looked at him then smiled softly. “The lady said he was with you, where is he.”

“Didn't picture you as a moody waker.”

“I'm not, Where is Peter?” He asked again, not wanting Jakob's light presence to disarm him.

Jakob chuckled before he finally answered. “The boy is safe, He's out there playin with other boys his age.” He answered but Rylan didn't ease up, fixed eyes burning holes through Jakob till he let out a defeated sigh.

“Anel, Bring the boy.” He shouted. “I'm a lil disappointed you don't trust me.”

“I have no reason to trust you.”

“I gave you a place to sleep without tryna take your life while you were defenseless, Don't that count.”

“Common decency isn't a measure of trust.”

“You know that little thing decency you call common.” He made air quotes to stress the last word. “—Ain't so common no more.”

Rylan shifted a little but didn't say anything else, The world had changed so much and because he'd been avoiding every sign of danger to protect it also meant he'd avoided every chance he'd had to understand the world's development during this time. The woman who'd led him to the tent lifted the fabric and ushered Peter into it, the indifference on her face palpable till her eyes reach Jakob and the change is instant, Her eyes glow with admiration for the man before her. “Here he is.” She said, staring straight at him like he was some kind of savior.

“Thank you Anel.” He said, she remained. “You can leave now.” He prompted and although hesitant she did but not before shooting a glare Rylan's way.

“I don't think she likes me.” He said absentmindedly, his focus wholly on the boy as he held Peter's face gently with both hands, inspecting him closely to make sure he was unharmed, he was. A sigh left him as he tussled the boys hair and turned back to Jakob. “Why?”

“She don't see your importance.”

“And you do?”

“I do.” Jakob replied calmly then turned to Peter. “He'll come get you when we're done.” Peter nodded, turned to wave Rylan then ran out.

Strange Rylan thought. The way Anel spoke about him with reverence, the way Peter just ran out without resistance, the noise coming from outside that was loud enough to be heard but not to make out any individual conversations. “You made an impression.” He said watching the tents fabric settle as Peter's steps sounded farther and farther away.

“A talent I've always had.” Jakob responded calmly then paused. “Permission to ramble?” Rylan nodded his permission. “You see before all this started, I was quite the successful man, got a big ole office and everything, Countless assets, limited liabilities. I wasn't successful cause I was the smartest or anything like that. In the end my success came down to one thing.”

“Gambling.” Rylan completed

“Bingo.” Jakob said with a widened grin.

“If you had a nose that allowed you to discern necessary risk from idiocy then your bets could extend to—”

“Everything really, Men, time, shares, I could always tell when something was an opportunity or a dead end.”

“And you see me as some sort of opportunity?” Rylan tried to sound hurt but couldn't quite fake being bothered by the statement.

“A big one. Which is exactly why, you loggin around that boy pisses me off, every damn second you spend with him diminishes that opportunity and if it goes on for long enough you'll end up just being wasted potential.”

Rylan couldn't think of a single argument because Jakob was right. Whether he'd like to admit it or not, the boy was a burden he couldn't afford to keep on for much longer but, he wouldn't let him go, he didn't care if he died in the process, he'd promised to find him somewhere safe and he would do it no matter the cause…no matter the cause….no matter the cause, the thought echoed in his mind each time with less conviction than the last until it eventually went quiet. Silence fell over them, dragging on unbearably as they stared at each other till.

“What is this place?” Rylan abruptly asked, hoping to change the subject.

Jakob's jaw flexed but he understood that Rylan no longer wanted to speak about the boy so he stood up and walked out, gesturing for Rylan to follow, he did. The people outside were as busy as they had been when he'd entered, wandering about their new daily lives like—He lost his train of thought as his mind fixated on the people of the settlement, their movements were random but organized, people just kept wandering in and out of tents without clear purpose as far as he could see and the look on the children's face was too…Joyful, it reminded him of—before the thought could fully form Jakob derailed it with his answer.

“I created this settlement a week after the merge began.”

Rylan raised a brow. “Fast.”

“Absurdly.” Jakob replied with a soft chuckle.

“How?”

“It was in no way easy but I sorta had a head start. In the game I had a guild and lucky for me a lot of them resided near me so all I had to do was gather them up, save a few normal people and get a location where beast weren't as rampant.” Jakob explained, a summary, some things brushed over and others had been completely skipped. How the hell were the beasts not bursting through those walls and wreaking havoc on every single thing in sight, Regardless of location, beasts were attracted to places with high human density which would mean their numbers would nullify and make irrelevant the original Arkana concentration.

There were so many questions he needed answers to, but he was smart enough to know that he was definitely not going to get those answers out of Jakob unless…

“You want me to become one of your men?”