Chapter 28 - Group Activities

After their first enemy encounter together, Peter was very happy Eric wasn't forcing a fight.

It started off with the standard skullhead panthers, which the six easily took out. Then, attracted by the sound, a large eyeball floated in from the shadows. It was the size of a bear, its black optic nerve dragging on the ground. It shifted itself around, looking at everyone, and cooed like a dove.

"It's a Deathwatcher!" Claire yelled. "Watch out!"

Its blue iris disappeared behind its pupil, sucked in like a curtain behind a vacuum, before its pupil suddenly shot out like a spear, as fast as a bullet. All six dodged in time; the pupil grazed Laura's arm, burrowing itself in a tree behind them.

Antoni immediately scrambled over to the Deathwatcher, smacking it hard with his staff. The impact rippled through its body, making it yell. It retracted its pupil and shot it at him, but he leapt to the side, remaining unharmed. Before it could retract again, Eric channeled lightning through his sword and impaled it in its body. It convulsed, the lightning currents forcing their way into it, before it exploded violently from the energy, coating Eric and its immediate surroundings in its blue blood. 

Eric frowned, trying to wipe the blood off his armor. "Jesus, if I knew that would happen, I wouldn't have done that."

Antoni stood up, his white clothes remaining unsullied. A bush in front of him shielded him from the blast. "We might have to abstain from doing that. This is the fourth time you've been covered in the guts of an animal."

Claire crossed her arms. A speck of blood splashed onto her shoulder, but she was fine otherwise. "The fourth time you've done this?"

"Yes. It's been a favorite strategy of his. Quite messy, as you can see."

"Oh come on," Eric protested, "I haven't done it that much!"

"But you have done it four times, correct?"

He nodded, putting his hands up in surrender. "You got me. No more impalement shocking strategies from now on."

"I don't even know why you bothered. You can strike them from a distance."

"I keep forgetting that."

"Well, stop forgetting that. We can't stop at every river so you can wash your clothes."

As Eric and Antoni continued bickering, Peter looked at his hands in disbelief. And they said blood mages were dangerous...

. . .

The six settled down for camping on the edge of Phegolan, having just exited Arkalo.

Laura fell asleep immediately after eating, leaving the other five to enjoy the warmth of the campfire. It was mostly silent, except for the occasional crow. Maya cleaned her gun, despite the broken stock. Eric wiped the blade of his sword, which was still a bit stained with blood. Antoni read a history book. Claire sifted through her hair, still not used to the smoothness.

And Peter did nothing in particular, watching the others go through their routines.

Eric looked up. "So, Peter, how's your journey been?"

"My journey?"

"Yeah. How's it been so far?"

He thought back to his life experiences so far. If he said he was from Hylokans, Eric might get a little suspicious, ask him why none of the Kingdoms ever acknowledged his teleportation. That could snowball. Then again, his name wouldn't have popped up anyway. "When I first started, I honestly just started doing quests until I went on the journey to kill Taykaw."

"Hey, exactly like me! I just did stuff around Phegolan until the King told me to kill him. How was it? How'd you get past the physical immunity?"

This was not going in the direction he wanted it to. "Well... it was bad. Really bad. We almost died trying."

"Jeez, that bad?"

He nodded. "I don't think he did much of the work though. A lot of it was skeletons. Like, a whole lot of them. Just the sheer number of them took up all our ammunition."

"Oh wow! Could your power not take them down?"

"My power is very specific. It requires certain parameters to work."

"Huh."

The entire conversation, he hoped that Eric wouldn't directly ask about his power. Thankfully, he always managed to veer the topic away from it, focusing instead of smaller details. He got a little scared that people would catch onto his tricks, but Eric seemed quite fine with not knowing everything. Eventually, the fire died down, and as he fell asleep, he entered Hemofemina's domain again.

"That was quite close, Peter. You sure it was a good idea to travel with them?"

"Don't really have a choice anymore, do I?"

"Maybe."

As he walked closer to her, he realized her clothes had changed. Her mask, boots and gloves stayed the same, but a black fedora replaced her officer's cap. Instead of her leotard, she now wore a white button-up shirt with a black tie and black dress pants. A black trench coat hung on her shoulders, widening her silhouette. "Why are your clothes matching my world's fashion?" He asked.

"When I chose you as my patron, I saw your life through your eyes, and I caught the fashions present in your world. And I quite liked some of them. So, for every blood gem you find, I unlock a different outfit."

"Is that really how it works?"

"Nope. I just wanted to make it fun for myself."

He frowned slightly. "Right."

"You know, you don't seem too happy about my change of clothes. If you want, I can change back to-"

"No, no, it's fine. You don't need to do that."

"Whatever you say. But there is a reason I wanted to see you right now."

 "Got another signal for a different blood gem?"

"Good guess. Yes, I can sense another one. But something is a little off."

"Is this one shattered?"

She shook her head. "No, it's something different. The previous blood gem had a wide signal, one that I could feel from Arkalo. But this time, it feels a lot fainter. I know for a fact it's somewhere in Phegolan, but how did it go unnoticed when we passed? My best guess is that it's been locked away in a box enhanced with magical properties, so that its aura isn't so easily noticeable."

"Doesn't your goddess status override those magical properties."

"Not all the times. Sometimes, even the Gods have elements hidden from them. Just how Deusterra works sometimes."

"Hmm. Well, I'll look for it when we get to the capital. If it's in a box, it's most likely in a government building, and I'm not sure about my odds..."

She nodded. "These blood gems are not a requirement. Just something to look out for. I'm plenty happy with the power I have right now."

"Hmm. I thought you'd be pushing me more to get them."

"Years of solitude with nothing makes you grateful to have any sort of power." She stretched her arms out, yawning. "I'll leave you alone now. Feel free to stay or leave. And remember: prioritize your survival over the gems, got it?"

He agreed, and she retreated to the corner of the room again. And, after a little bit of bored exploration, he left the domain.