Wide Awake

Thankfully, Iuria and Phorok left them alone for the night. Berus could hear them speak softly, but couldn’t make out any words. Instead, he looked around the small room they had prepared for them. The walls were stacked to the top with books explaining various subjects, from geography and advanced mathematics to a beginner’s monster slaying guide. None of the books looked new, and most of them had dog-eared pages or bookmarks in them, showing their progress.

Makes sense, Berus thought. There’s not much else to do here.

But it only made him more suspicious. If they truly stumbled upon this place, why was it empty yet well-prepared? It felt too convenient.

“Okay, then let me see the damages,” Mikkah said, and was already taking out her equipment.

“Are you sure? You’re hurt yourself.”

“It’s nothing major,” she smiled back. “I’ve gotten through worse.”

He nodded. “You really had it hard.”

“Yup.”

She walked over to him and grabbed his arm. “I’ll just work on this, so if you could stay still, that would be wonderful.”

“Of course.”

He wanted to say more, but she quickly fell into her work mode and he didn’t dare to disturb her. She was the only one who could repair him, and do whatever else to his body. Of course, he doubted she would do something like that, but the thought still remained. Unlike a doctor, she didn’t have to take an oath not to harm him, or do modifications he didn’t want. Unless he looked at his status, he probably wouldn’t even know what she was doing, and who could say she wasn’t able to hide such things from him even in his own status?

He shuddered at these thoughts, but felt even worse for having them. Mikkah had been nothing but helpful since he came here. But especially with them landing here, he couldn’t help but be more suspicious about their surroundings.

And finally, he started to miss home. His family, his friends, his hobbies and even his work, as shitty as it had been. Juggling studying and working had taken all of his energy, but when he found himself suddenly out of a job and exmatriculated, the free time he had was even worse. At least he could help people in MYSTALE ONLINE, which made him feel better. Like he was actually accomplishing anything.

It was probably similar to his feelings now. Here, he didn’t have a job, friends or family, or even a hobby that he could pursue. Nothing kept him from staying here and living a slow life. But the thought bothered him more than he thought it would. He had lived aimlessly for long enough. There was good to be done in this world. And now he actually had a body that could do something - not only in a game, but for real people. It felt good, even if it wasn’t his main character.

“I still can’t believe it,” he muttered.

“Hm?” Mikkah looked at him. “I’m not done yet.”
“Ah, sorry.”

She shouldn’t interrupt her. But the realization that it was his game character that somehow caused so much suffering still pained him. In a way, it felt like he himself was responsible for it all. And that was another reason why he had to help. Not only to stop the demons, to restore the balance, but to at least talk to that Vrixus, and see if he was his game character or not.

“This is worse than I first anticipated,” She huffed, which pulled him out of his thoughts. “You really got beat up.”

“But you can fix it?”

“Of course!”

“So, what about other modifications? How about that second pair of arms?”

“Not without the right materials,” she grumbled. “I told you already.”

“And where do we get them?”

“Not from here, that much I can tell you.” She rolled her eyes. “Can I continue working now?”

“Sure.”

He quickly looked at his status. Now, it already looked better than before, even though there were still some areas that needed attention. The time ticked by, and he couldn’t quite tell how long she was already working on him, but finally, she stepped away.

“Open and close your fist,” she said.

He did. It didn’t feel any different from usual, but Mikkah nodded, apparently satisfied.

“Okay, and now just walk like usual,” she yawned.

“It’ll be fine,” he assured her. “You just go to bed.”
She glanced at the bed, and took a few steps into its direction before stopping. “What about you?”

“I, uhm…” He stopped, and checked his system. “Yeah, I don’t actually need to sleep.”

“What.”

“I’m a soul, remember? It’s not like I can get tired.”

“Oh.” She blinked. “Oh…”

“It’s fine. I’ll just get a book and waiting until the morning.”

“Are you sure?” She tried to hide the next yawn, and utterly failed.

“I am. I’ll watch over you, elven priestess.”

That, at least, brought a smile to her face. “Thank you.”

She mumbled something, and then buried her face into the pillow. He looked at her for a few moments, but it didn’t take long for her breaths to grow long and even. She was fast asleep.

From the little round window, moonlight shone into the study, illuminating perfectly the desk. So he chose a book at random, and started idly looking through it. There wasn’t much of interest to him, and he started to browse idly through various books until he heard a noise from outside the door. He froze.

It was long past midnight. Why would Iuria or Phorok be awake? It didn’t feel right. He slowly sat down next to the bookshelf he had just perused, careful not to make a sound. The footsteps came closer, and he quickly adjusted his posture to look like he could actually be sleeping.

The door opened without a sound. If the automaton didn’t have very sensitive audio recognition, Berus was sure that he wouldn’t have heard it. Now, he only had to move his chest slightly, to look like he was not a machine, but a human. He synched up his breaths with Mikkah’s just as Phorok entered.

Even in the room, his steps were so soft that it was a miracle Berus caught it at all. He continued his artificial breathing, and even made his left hand twitch. Phorok came closer, and Berus could see a sword in his hand. He was ready.

But Phorok stayed there, looking at Mikkah, and then at him. Actually, Berus was sure that Phorok scrutinized him more, but he was confident in his motions. They were probably very human-like.

Still, he had to spend a few minutes like that, while Phorok just stood there, observing him and Mikkah. But finally, he turned around, and just as silently as he had come in, he left the room again.

Immediately, Berus stopped his breathing.

Good thing I don’t have to sleep, he thought. I doubt I would be able to after this.

Of course, he stayed the rest of the night wide awake, not reading another word. But Phorok didn’t come back.