Chapter 16:

Last day.

Death Game. I'm not the protagonist, am I?


He'd scream, scared by the sudden noise of his door slamming wide open.
"WHAT?"

Trevor stares him down. What? What's wrong? Are we getting raided?
In response to his thoughts, he waves a small vial in front of his eyes. 
"Is that.. A healing potion?"
"YEAH!"

Oh thank heavens. His anxiety instantly vanishes.
"Don't do that anymore I thought we were getting raided or something. You gave me a heart attack."
"My bad, I was just really excited to show you."

Trevor walks closer as Saito takes deep breaths, calming his now overstimulated body.
"Are you good?" He asks, worried of Saito's health.
"Yeah.. Thank you."
"Here, be careful, the vial is kind of fragile. Take it whenever you're ready."

Whenever I'm ready? I want it right now.
He reaches both of his hands, open palms up. Trevor cautiously place the vial in his hands.
Sure enough, it does feel fragile. He slowly grabs it and pulls on the cork. He leans back, bringing the potion to his lips, gracefully drinking it down fully. His arm hurts for a short moment, but the pain soon disappears. He moves it around after counting down twenty seconds. It doesn't hurt anymore. It's like he got a new arm.

"My arm doesn't hurt anymore. Thank you so much. Where'd you get that?"
"We um. Convinced the merchant to trade it."

He sounds guilty. He raises an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
"Well. I mean. We kind of forced him to make a deal."

So you bent his arm to force him to sell it. Normally he'd get upset at the thought, but he would've been doomed if not for that. In light of his contribution to his journey, Saito bows.

"I owe you everything. Thank you again?"
"No you don't. That was payback for what you've done. Don't go creating debts where there's none."

Truth is, he had to do all this. Because otherwise he wouldn't have a chance at surviving this twisted show. He didn't do all of this for them, but for himself. Although, he did fight the bandits early on for them, but that's pretty much all there is.

"Okay."
The man gives him a thumb up.
"Come eat something whenever you're ready. I repaired your armour and fixed your shoes."

Saito opens his mouth to respond, but the man speaks faster.
"Stop thanking me."

The hero closes his mouth. Is he being annoying?
"You're learning now."
He turns around, heading out without further words.

(Different cultures. I'm maybe doing too much).
He'd stand up. Yep, the pain is entirely gone.
Changing clothes, he'd then put his shoes back on. 
He pulls the armour left by Trevor to him, equipping it on as well.
Today is the final day. This is it. He's done literally everything he could've done. Fought everything he could fight. He walks out of the room, joining his foster family for breakfast. 

After a warm meal and good conversation, he heads outside, looking around. What should he do today? Train? He does have 3 spells he can make. Yeah, let's use today to train. Maybe one of the swordsmen recovered enough to train with him. He goes around during the course of the day, training himself, creating new spells, practising combo's and techniques. Once satisfied, he goes out of his way to ask people, requesting training. The older men eagerly oblige, happy to teach him. He spends the remaining hours doing light exercises not to tire himself. He'll need to be at full strength for what's to come. Once dawn falls, he returns home for a final goodbye. Trevor, Via and Chloe are seated at the table, their expressions heavy. This is likely the last time he'll see them. 

"You've done a lot for me. But I get it, I've done a lot as well. I didn't think it was possible for me to find such a welcoming family being brought here. I'm forever thankful."

Via: "Of course. I'll be happy to look after you once you're back."
Trevor: "Stop thanking us. We like you and we're grateful. I'll see you tomorrow."
Chloe: "Please, look after yourself. Remember your promise."

"Yeah. I won't lose."
With a final bow, he turns around, heading out.
Closing the door a final time, he heads toward deeper into Glarion, following the path.
Recalling the streams, the reason Glowvia is so isolated is because the town nearby has been left to rot, abandoned since many years. The buildings are now falling apart. Everything of value has been looted. A literal ghost city. That'll be where he'll commit to his last stand. 
The village now behind him, his eyes quickly move from one direction to another.
He could be ambushed any time. The man is coming. He knows that. 
(It's nerve wracking.)

It would take him a hour of travel before reaching it. It's been a while since he's seen the ghost town. It looks far worse than what he remembers. The walls are literally collapsing onto themselves. This place is disgusting. His gaze goes up the sky, noticing the moon going up. The sun set vanishes. A couple more steps and he stops, now in the middle of the ruins. All he can do now is wait. His ears searching for any sound, his eyes for any movement and his body for any stimulation. He very slowly moves, unsheathing his blade, keeping it in his hand. His palm begins to sweat. His breathing unsteady from anxiety. 
(I can do this. I've had worse with the werewolf.)

The thought doesn't make him feel better. The assassin and the werewolf are two very different foes. The skills and cheats making the first one notably more dangerous.

The wait goes on. 5 minutes. 10 minutes. 20 minutes. He losses count.
How long have I been waiting?

The sound of a pebble falling to the floor immediately tenses him up. He leans sideways, looking back. A cloaked figure sneaked up upon him. Even with all his senses on alert, he didn't sense him. The man swipes his dagger, but misses Saito's neck. They both bounce back.

"Oh... But it was so close! You could've been at peace."

Anger quickly getting a hold of him, he curses.
"Go to hell. Peace my arse. I'll show you peace."

Killer smiles.
"Yes. Peace. Aren't the dead so peaceful? You could've joined your friends. Don't you want to be reunited?"

He needs to calm down. He's rage baiting him. Calm down Saito.
The survivor takes a deep breath, lowering his hand, gripping his sword with great strength.

"Oh? Did you calm down? Hahaha. Most of you guys lose your temper so quick. You feel strong. You're not going to run are ya? Please... Entertain me all night. I want to hear your screams."

He giggles, looking down upon his opponent.
That is his one weakness. His overconfidence. His ego.
He never has gotten close to dying or getting critically injured.
(I have to abuse of that confidence and kill him in a single strike.)