A Quiet Moment

Their journey towards the castle was quite rough and bumpy. They were on the road for several days by now, and finally, Berus got sick of all the beautiful forest trees around them. Usually, they were completely alone, while other times they had to hit the gas as something awakened in the forest around them. It was exhausting, but fun in a way Berus had difficulties to describe.

For the first few days, he had to learn how to drive. Mikkah liked to complain about his bumpy driving, but he always countered with the fact he had no driver’s licence.
“What even is a driver’s licence?” she muttered.

“Well, a licence to drive. You have to learn how to drive a vehicle before you’re allowed on the streets.”

“By Lucine, you can learn that? Is there, like a school for mechanics?”

“Something like that.” He shrugged. “It was pretty normal for people like me to get one in my old world. Before I… died.”

“What? You died? You come… from another world? Just like in the legends?”

“Yeah, it wasn’t by design that I inhabit a demonic torture machine, you know?”

“O-oh…”

He let out a sigh. “I’m sorry, Iuria. I didn’t mean it like that. I’m from another world, that’s true. There… some things were similar to here, while others were wildly different. That makes it difficult for me, sometimes.”

“Oh… I can imagine. I’m so sorry you died.”

“I.. Don’t worry. I don’t think about it, and you shouldn’t concern with it, either.”

“I see.” She fell quiet again.

“Ah! But I mean, we do have our quest now.” He tried to cheer her up immediately. “I mean, you’re the princess of this land, accompanied by the elven priestess and her holy knight! That’s enough material for a story, right?”

He changed back to his battle menu, as he did most of the time they were driving. Ki-Rai absolutely enjoyed the driving, maybe even more than he did.

And so they continued on, driving through the forest that seemed to stretch endlessly. But, if Iuria’s memory was to be trusted, after the forest they should find their way back to civilization, and then be able to easily find their way to the castle.

“We should mostly focus on our mission,” Mikkah said. “We have to get to the castle, and get rid of the demons.”

“You seem uneasy. What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing. I… I’m just worried.”

“About what?”

“By Lucine, just about everything. Like our mission. Are we even strong enough to take them on, now that Phorok…” She didn’t finish the sentence.

“Of course we’re strong enough.” Berus dodged a few trees, then went down the dirt road they were following again. “We’re the heroes of prophecy, after all.”

In this moment, it was easy for him: if she didn’t believe in their mission, he had to. Just how she believed in him when he was unsure. And Iuria, too, had something to believe in.

“I really wonder what happened to my father,” she muttered.

“We will find out. Something is wrong,” Mikkah agreed.

“It doesn’t sound like him. But I have to hear it from him, not from rumors. Sorry.”

“No, that’s the right approach. After all, we don’t know him,” Berus agreed. “Who knows? Maybe he’s being manipulated or getting blackmailed. We can only find out by going to the castle. And getting rid of as many demons as we can along the way.”

“Yes, but…” Iuria let out a small sigh.

“None of that. We’re worrying too much already.” Mikkah shook her head. “Sorry for bringing it up. We really should just be worried where we can find a good place for our dinner.”

“Right. Then let’s keep an eye out for that.”

Iuria smiled, and bent forward as to look out from under Berus’ arms. It was the first time that she did so, and the unexpected touch let him stumble. Everyone shrieked.

“Focus!” Mikkah admonished him.

“I’m trying!” He yelled right back.

It wasn’t easy to drive both on the uneven road and with the weight of two people on his bike-back. But with a few days of experience by now, Berus managed to stay both upright and on the road. He opened his battle menu so Ki-Rai could enjoy the ride, and he hoped that his two friends would tell him if there was anything coming up that would make a good resting place for the night. He took a deep breath. A light drizzle coated his metal, and made the forest smell even better than before. But it also told him that they had to hurry and find some place to rest. He drove on, as fast as he could with the soft ground.

Finally, Iuria pointed at something. “Up there! A cave!”

“Wonderful.”

Carefully, Berus left the road and drove up to the cave. There were no signs of humans around, and no light source to be seen, either. The cave itself was wide, and tall enough that even he could comfortably stand in there. But it was already occupied. A bear-like creature groaned at them.

“Stay back,” Berus said, and took out his sword from his limited inventory.

“Get it

In the dark, he had the best sight out of the three of them. And even though his body wasn’t quite as agile as before, he could still swing his sword without a problem.

The bear was strange, and not like any creature he had seen in the game before. It had brown fur with green tips, with most of the fluff on its back . Only its skull was completely exposed with glistening red skin to be seen. It didn’t have any lips, and a snarl escaped its exposed teeth.

Berus wasn’t having any of it. After he helped to kill a dragon, a bear like that just… wasn’t something to be afraid of. He barreled forward, and brought down the bear with a few, expert slices. His new skills from Phorok helped with that, as well.

Thank you, Berus thought, and briefly touched his skill necklace.

“Alright,” Iuria said, and knelt down. “Let us make a stew, then. Do any of you know how to field dress this poor animal?”

Mikkah could barely hide her disgust. “I’m not sure it’s edible.”
“Hmmm.” Iuria tilted her head. “Right, without the proper skills we won’t be able to tell. Vegetable stew it is, then.”

As the stew was bubbling on the pot, Berus drove over to the entrance of the cave. Outside, it was now raining down heavily, and he couldn’t make out anything in the downpour. That was no problem, though. He would keep watch all night long.

“Berus?” Mikkah called out. “Do you want to come sit over by the fire?”

“I’m fine,” he called back. “I’ll just stay here and keep watch.”

“If you say so…” She looked at him, as if she wanted to give him the chance to change his mind. It was nice of her, really.

“Thank you. But I really mean it. You two rest up, and I’ll keep watch.”

“Thank you,” Iuria smiled at him.

He wished he could smile back. But as he watched them wolf down the stew, after which they cleaned up with the little energy they had left before curling up in their sleeping bags just showed him how exhausted they were. If he was human like them, he would be just as exhausted. But sometimes it had its perks, being trapped in a machine. He looked outside, as the sky quickly darkened. And at some point during the night, the rain subsided. He stayed awake and kept watch, still.