From Moving Crates to Killing Gods-Chapter 73: Chores of the Past

We were able to keep this pace without fighting another Corruptor for a while, but Kira and Finn started to grow tired. Their backlashes were building up, and tomorrow they would use them too, so we decided to use the third outpost as today’s camp.

"This is crazy." Finn said, folding his arms behind his head, using a small bag as a pillow. "I never thought that my silver mining would lead down this path."

"That’s nothing." Coco replied with a short laugh. "I was just the person in charge of making juice! The system gave me a chore that seemed so inconsequential, and somehow I returned from the exile and now I’m somewhat useful."

Then there was silence, no one could beat that. Juice making was definitely not a chore that you would expect a survivor from the exile to have.

"What do you guys think was Damian’s chore?" Kira asked, absentmindedly tracing patterns in the dirt as she looked at the sky.

"Probably giving orders to everyone he saw." Coco replied with a faint smirk. "I can’t imagine him doing something besides that."

"You guys don’t know?" Finn said, lowering his voice slightly as he shifted onto his side. "When I was training my silver manipulation with him, we came across some protest graffiti, but this one was more violent."

"Violent how?" Coco asked, leaning in a little.

"Well, it incited towards random violence." Finn gulped, rubbing the back of his neck. "I never thought about it, it seemed normal to me that even in our dire situation when facing exile, no one ever tried doing something crazy because it had no purpose."

There was a small silence that allowed us all to reason it and probably agree in our minds.

"Damian asked me what I thought should be done with those wanting to start a senseless rebellion." Finn kept going, eyes unfocused as if replaying the memory. "I said I didn’t know. He told me that the system already had a way to take care of them, and that when he was an orphan, he was given a chore with that purpose."

"I thought he only hid constantly." Kira said, glancing toward us. "Since his ability allows him to hide even from Corruptors." 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"I don’t know." I said, shaking my head lightly. "I can’t picture him playing hide and seek."

We all laughed for a moment and then there was only silence. We were tired after our first day in the wasteland, similar to when we faced exile, but this time our bellies didn’t roar constantly. That made sleeping much easier.

We didn’t take turns to sleep, we were surrounded by black water canteens, so we allowed ourselves to let our guards down. But in the night, we forgot how dark it could get. Here there was no artificial light, or glowing moss, only the moon shone lightly above the clouds.

I was half asleep in the middle of the night, when I heard a voice.

"Guys, I hear something, it sounds really close!" Coco said, his whisper tight as he scanned the darkness.

"Relax Coco." Kira said in a half asleep tone. "I heard Phinyx getting up, that’s probably him peeing."

A couple of seconds after that, the constant stream sound finished, and was replaced by steps.

"Phinyx, is that you?" Coco asked, sitting upright.

"I just threw a bad vibe off." Phinyx answered calmly. "Nothing to worry about."

Despite everything, that night we were safe.

When I woke up I had a weird sensation, even though everything was going well, I felt anxious.

’My vow...’ I knew we were doing this as preparation in case I or anyone else got lost, but a new problem was now revealing itself.

Would they be okay if I got teleported to a random place? Would they survive?

I knew they were now more capable with their abilities, and they had the canteens filled with dark water, so they would probably be fine as long as they don’t make any fatal mistakes. But would they think I abandoned them?

As I readied myself and stood I saw Kira gathering her things next to me.

"You know I wouldn’t leave you guys, right?" I asked Kira, adjusting my pants.

"What nonsense are you saying Allaran." Kira replied, giving me a puzzled look. "You had a nightmare or what?"

As I was preparing an answer, Finn woke up and interrupted everyone’s morning routine.

"Good morning sun! Time for another lovely day." Finn exclaimed, throwing his arms wide in an exaggerated stretch.

We all wondered if we heard wrong, but our faces proved otherwise.

"Those are not the vibes I would expect from someone who almost got eaten yesterday." Phinyx said dryly.

"And that’s where you’re wrong, vibe man." Finn said, tapping his chest. "Because I saw my death, and was saved, now I have gratitude for living another day... and I dreamt with Mia."

"And why is the sun getting the good mornings if I was the one that saved you?" I asked Finn, raising an eyebrow.

"Because the mental image I have for a savior isn’t someone with his hands and pants dried with black blood." Finn answered, gesturing vaguely. "It just doesn’t fit the..."

"The vibe! I understand you." Phinyx completed the sentence as if he’d win a prize by doing it.

"Well, I’m sorry that the monster that tried to eat you had a head with tons of blood, next time I’ll leave its head in place." I said in a nonchalant tone.

"Noo! I’m sorry, good morning Allaran. Here, I’ll make you a silver friendship bracelet." Finn replied hastily, lifting his hands in surrender.

And like that, somehow I even forgot that we were outside the barrier, not knowing if it was a sign of strength or a sign of being naive.

Everyone gathered their stuff, and Finn together with Kira decided on a route to reach the fourth outpost. Kira was involved because she could feel water, and our thirst was starting to build up.

"Alright, lets keep going, we have many outposts left and I don’t want to sleep in the ground for too long." I said, tightening the straps of the bags I carried.

Currently, we were circling around Argent, but after the fourth outpost, we would travel further away.

A distance where the Spire wouldn’t be visible.