Hopes and Fears

They stayed inside the house until the dragon got bored, and wandered back into the forest. It left a trail of broken trees in its wake, and for a long time, the forest stayed silent. Only when the birdsong returned, and the chickens dared to go outside once more, Berus and the others did the same.

“Ki-Rai?” He asked her. “Did the cracks change?”

“Hehe, they did! Good thinking.” She swirled around. “They got bigger, but the barrier is still holding on. Why don’t you try punching it, ehehe?”

“Stop joking around,” he grumbled back. “This will be an actual fight.”

“Urghhh…” She rolled her eyes. “Then give it your all! You’ve gotten a bit better at fighting, at least.”

“Glad to hear that,” he muttered.

Even though he didn’t sound like it, it was true. He had been sparring with Phorok for some time now, and his swordfighting had gotten better, even though he still hadn’t learned any new skills. He was faster and more agile now than when they fought the dragon on the temple shard. Maybe they would have a chance, then.

“Berus?” Iuria called for him. “We’re done with the preparations.”

“Coming!”

He exited his menu, but not without at least giving Ki-Rai one last “See you later”. Then, he went back into the house and told them his findings over dinner.

“So it did work,” Phorok grumbled. “That’s good to know, at least.”

“But I don’t know how much more it will take until it fully breaks. It will still be dangerous.”

“We will do great,” Iuria said. “As long as you two direct the dragon to attack the barrier, it will be fine.”

“You can’t be so sure. Even if everything goes well, it’ll stil be dangerous.”

“Yes, yes,” she said, and waved her hand. “If something happens, I will use my healing ability.”

“Good.”

Phorok was visibly tense.

“So, you’ve fought dragons before,” Berus said. “In a group, right? How did that go?”

“Badly.”

“Huh. What does that mean?”

Of course, he had his own experiences with raids in the game. But in this world, everything seemed more complicated, especially when he considered that they didn’t have a second chance. He glanced at Phorok’s prosthetic leg.

“It means no one got away unscathed,” Phorok said. “Usually, one or two members of our order would die on a hunt. Sometimes by their choice, but most of the time, it was a simple, single mistake that ended their life. Fighting dragons is no game.”

“I’m aware.”

He tried to sound as serious as he could. As much as he enjoyed sparring with Phorok, it was nothing like the real deal.

“You have a metal body,” Phorok said. “You won’t be distracted by smoke or flames. You can probably take more hits than a normal person.”

“And if I do, Mikkah can fix me right up,” he added.

“And that’s the problem. You can’t heal. Iuria can’t help you. So do your best and keep the damage to a minimum, alright? Plus, we need your spellcasting more than your fighting power.”

“But…”

“I will fight. You will cast.” He crossed his arms, as if it was decided. “You should only fight if there is no other choice.”

“Fine with me.”

He knew that Phorok had more experience than him. And even though he wanted to fight, and test his abilities, working together was much more important. It was a good plan, all things considered.

“Our goal is not to kill the dragon,” Phorok continued, “But first and foremost to breka the barrier, and then to escape the dragon. Do you all understand?”

Berus nodded, and both Iuria and Mikkah did the same.

“I want you to stay behind, Iuria. You can stay with the mechanic in the safe room. It should be your best bet.”

Iuria bit her lip. She clearly wasn’t a fan of this. And even Mikkah didn’t look like she was alright with it.

“I can fight,” she said. “I have some weapons in my inventory that are powered by mana crystals, and…”

“How often can you fire them?” Phorok interrupted her.

“Uh, one or two times each, I think?”

“Then keep them as a last resort. You will stay with Iuria. If anything happens to her, I will kill you.”

His words were serious.

“We’re not here to get anyone killed,” Berus immediately tried to diffuse the situation. “We need to be able to trust each other. And that also means trusting our plan. So please… Phorok is right. He knows what he’s doing. That’s why I’m trusting him, and his plan. We all need to work together.”

Iuria didn’t meet his gaze, but quietly said: “Fine.”

Mikkah only nodded, though he was sure he picked up a muttered curse from her.

“Good. Now that this is settled, I want to spar with you again,” Phorok said and gestured for Berus to follow him outside. His dinner was left untouched.

“I… I’m coming.”

Berus got up. Something about Phorok’s attitude had changed, and it left him with more doubts than before. So if they could talk it out over a fight or two, even better.

Outside, Phorok looked out into the forest, and the aisle the dragon had left behind. The wind was cold, and darkness would soon settle in. But that didn’t seem to bother the old adventurer. Instead, when he slowly turned around to Berus, there was something dark in his eyes as well.

“Let’s spar. Properly this time.”

This time, he summoned different swords from his inventory. One of them he kept for himself, while he tossed the other one to Berus.

“You can keep it,” he said. “It’s better if you’re prepared for the fight. Wooden swords don’t feel the same.”

“Thank you. I’ll cherish it.”

“I don’t care about that. I want you to use it.”

Berus barely had time to get accustomed with the sword before Phorok attacked. Tonight, there was a force to his attacks that wasn’t there before. But they had sparred for so long that Berus was now confident in most of his tricks, even if he couldn’t always follow them.

“Against a human attacker, you’d have no problems,” Phorok said. “But we’re up against a dragon. What do you do?”

“I don’t fight,” Berus said immediately, and blocked a hit from him. “I’m using my mana to direct its attention.”

“Exactly.”

They exchanged more strikes, and fell into a comfortable dance. Finally, it felt like Berus could truly keep up with him. And since he couldn’t grow tired, he felt even better.

“What do you do if you’re out of mana?” Phorok huffed.

“Attack the dragon. Protect the others,” Berus answered immediately, and swung his sword.

The blade stopped barely before Phorok’s throat. The man was breathing heavy, his own sword just a little too late to block.

“Good,” he huffed. “You know what you’re doing. But don’t expect to win just because you showed this old man his age.”

“I… that wasn’t my intention.”

“I know. Doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. It was easier to ignore my age when there was no one around to compare myself to.”

With that, he put his sword away and sat on the ground. Berus did the same, even though he didn’t need the break.

Phorok looked at him. “So, after defeating me… will you hear this old man out?”

Berus nodded silently.