Chapter 61 Morning Conversations

Chapter 61 Morning Conversations

Maerik winced as he opened up his eyes, the drowsiness of sleep weighing on his eyelids as he stood up from the hard wooden floor, he'd partied a little too hard last night and had fallen asleep on the ground along with every single one of them, he looked around the room and took in the sight, still fast asleep, gentle snores and synchronized breaths created a soothing noise that reverberated through the wooden structure of the cabin. He looked around, doing a mental rollcall, everyone was present but Rylan. Worry settled in but he didn't let it show as he stepped over their sleeping bodies and headed straight for the door, opening it as softly as he possibly could so as not to wake a single one of them and shutting it behind him to shield them from the blinding light of the morning sun.
Shading his sensitive eyes with his palm, he looked around the area and let out the breath he'd been holding when he saw Rylan a few meters away, sitting on the floor, legs crossed and eyes closed.
He stepped down the stairs and walked as gently to him as possible, stopping a few feet away before crouching down and taking a seat on the sandy ground.

“Why are you awake?” Rylan asked a sudden question, not even bothering to turn to confirm who it was.

Maerik cracked his neck and let out a sigh before answering. “My body doesn't let me sleep past sunrise.”

His shoulders slumped. “That must suck.”

Maerik nodded in agreement before asking a question of his own. “Why are you out here so early?”

He thought about the reason and remembered.“I got used to not sleeping when it was just me and Peter.”

“That must have been exhausting, I have never known a man who doesn't need sleep.”

“i never said I didn't need it.” Rylan chuckled. “I'm actually trying to understand this poison as best as I can.”

“How's that going?”

“Good, I now at least know what's wrong with me.”

Maerik raised a brow urging him to continue so he did.

“Because of the unsteady state of my internal Arkana, I can't suppress mine anymore, it's too distinct to be missed. I can no longer hide my presence, which means I'm a walking beacon.”

“Problem?”

“Big one. I no longer have stealth in my arsenal, but I'll find a way.” He opened his eyes and stood to his feet and with a voice veiled by uncertainty he repeated. “I’ll find a way.”
He opened up his system and looked through all his stats, his eyes locking on the stamina bar, dark fog hovered over him, He was putting on a brave face but in reality all he wanted to do was lay down on the soft sand and forget about this world, but he couldn't, he couldn't take his mind off it because that was not a luxury he could afford, He needed to find a way to fix this issue before it becomes detrimental to his survival. He pulled his eyes away from the stamina bar and once again looked at the only text with a different font, the Mothlight, it stood out to him in every conceivable way, he'd thought that when access was granted he'd be able to see everything concerning it, but it remained basically the same, no level, no information, no unique stat just a text that remained with no feature other than activate.
He let out a defeated breath, looking at the interface wasn't going to suddenly make his situation better so with a heavy sigh, he shrugged away the feeling and turned back to Maerik who was still sitting on the floor, eyes focused on the trees ahead of them as he gently nibbled on his own fingers.

“Maerik?” Rylan called out, his head snapped to him like he'd just awoken from a dream, he rose to his feet and dusted himself off. “Are you ok?”

“Are we going to talk about what happened before you woke up?”

“What's there to talk about?” Rylan said a little too fast to be overlooked.

“A lot, is that gonna happen again, if there's a possibility of that happening again, Rylan I need you to tell me.”

Silence hung over them as Rylan stared at his feet like they were the most interesting things he'd ever seen.

Maerik put a hand on Rylan's shoulder “Rylan?” He urged.

Rylan slapped away the hand. “What do you want me to say?” He asked, a little louder than necessary, a look in his eyes Maerik had never seen before. “I don't have the answers, I don't know shit, I don't know anything thats going on in this fucked up world, I don't know…I had one advantage, one advantage over all of you and now it's gone— I don't know shit Maerik, I don't know if it can happen again…I do not know what's going to happen next, Every single thing is as much a mystery to you as it is to me, so please, stop relying on me.”

Maerik looked at him for a long while, he understood what it was like to be relied on, he understood what it was like to not be allowed to have a reaction because people needed you to be their tether, it sucked. He nodded then turned back to the forest, silence stretched the distance between them until he finally spoke up. “In a few days we'll leave this place, I mean we were only ever meant to stay the night and yet we spent two months but….during that time it had started to feel like a sort of home and now the idea of just going and exploring the rest of the world that we know nothing about, I don't know, it feels…” Maerik dragged on, unable to find the word.

Rylan offered a smile of appreciation before he replied. “I know what you mean, moving forward sucks when you're comfortable where you are. To most people out there the world is still a horrible horrific place, it is our job to fix that, to carry that burden is to cast away one's personal comfort because they need us.” Rylan gently tapped on his shoulder and continued to walk away.

A soft chuckle escaped Maerik as he thought about Rylan's words. He turned back to look at Rylan's back as he walked away, unlike him, Rylan didn't choose to be saddled with the responsibility of this world but he doesn't complain, he's accepted it and is doing everything possible to fulfill his assigned role. “I really hope we don't ever turn to enemies, Rylan.” Maerik said before he could even think through his word Rylan stopped and turned back to face him.

“So do I. But we both know that is one of the most likely outcomes of this partnership, I have no issue putting the crown on your head, what you do then is what will be the deciding factor.” Rylan explained, Maerik walked to his side and let out a breath.

“For now we are still allies, so let's be as much help to each other as possible until that time finally comes.” Maerik said, extending his palm, Rylan shook it and offered a measured smile.