Vol.3 Ch.59 - God's blessing on this pitiful party

“Almost there…! Any second now…!” Marina hastily ran in front of us,shoveling the snow with her every step, “Finally, we’re out!!!”I took the chance to look up at the sky, it was pale white. Looking around theperimeter, there was nothing more than a frosty wonderland. With such adescription, you’d think we’d be just as glad as Marina was, but both the OldMan and I felt nothing but wary as we trudged through the landscape.We had our coats on, but even still it was as if each snowflake piercedthrough our clothes and landed directly on our skin. That’s right, I thought,we’re in Sibirus, the world’s North Pole. I suddenly recalled all the times Ihad felt cold in my life, but they all paled in comparison to the terrifyingfrostbite we were experiencing right now.Not but a moment more, and I felt that navigating through the snow had gottena lot more difficult all of a sudden. Certainly, we were tired, but we hadmore than enough stamina to make it back to the lodging. I noticed Marina’space starting to slow down as well, but the Old Man held his pace to thepoint where he was (ironically) the fastest of the bunch.“Big Bro, use Spark.” Marina suggested.“You cold already?” I mocked her for not holding out longer, “Sorry, but Iain’t talking with any of you anymore. The second we get on the boat back tothe mainland is when I’m leaving both of your asses.”“What? No, not for me, dummy! It’s for your finger!” She shot back almostimmediately, “Your finger is really susceptible to the cold right now, soheating it up is gonna do you good.”So that’s why my hand has been feeling the frostbite more than the rest ofmy body! But still…“And how do you expect me to use my Spark without the two most importantfingers needed for it?” I noted with a snide remark.For context, the best and most comfortable way I’ve found to activate Sparkis by channeling all the flames to my pinkie and ring finger. Back when Itrained with Aaron on how to use it, it took me a fair bit of time just to getused to activating Spark with one finger. From what I’ve gathered, the morefingers I use, the more concentration it needs. Apart from that, it seems thatstarting from the pinkie and moving your way up is a solid way to ease intoit.It’s precisely because of these reasons that the pinkie and ring finger arecrucial for Spark to work properly. Activating it on my middle finger wouldbe like starting up a transport wagon on the third gear, it’ll just stall out andstop working altogether.“Boy, if you’re gonna be snarky, then at least pick up the pace!” The Old Mansaid as he ran circles around me, seemingly with ease.“How the hell are you so quick and nimble all of a sudden, you Old Geezer?”I couldn’t help but ask, even as fumes erupted from my head.“Hahah! Simple – I’m from Montes, born and raised.” He proudly put hishands on his hips as he aimed his chest at the sky, “If you’re ever in the area,check out their hand warmers, they’re a lifesaver!”I was getting quite conflicted by this point. It’s in these moments that the pastme would nag him endlessly and ask nigh infinite questions about these ‘handwarmers’ and how living in Montes is like. But even still, this is the man thatcut off two of my fingers before even stopping to check for alternatives. Heeven had the gall to be completely honest and admit there were plenty ofways where he could’ve saved me without cutting them off, but he still choseto be lazy for no other reason than “It was the easiest way to get you out.”I don’t trust Linus. He’s a treacherous scumbag that’ll talk his way out ofany situation with that snake tongue of his and he’ll refuse to atone for hismistakes and shortcomings no matter what. Writing this off as just a onetime thing would be naïve, because he’ll definitely do this again if I do. Itried being a good person to them, made sure to endure anything andeverything they threw at me, be it leaving me behind or just being greedyungrateful jackasses for no apparent reason, but even still they refuse tocooperate. So, I’ll be the one to distance myself from them.Marina is… I’m not sure. She’s definitely been on my side for the majorityof our time spent together, but it’s suspicious how she only decided to belike that after she ate the Golden Apple. I’m not saying she’ll revert to herbitchy self once the ef ect completely wears off, but I’m also not gonnastick around and find out. She’s someone who I can probably trust, evennow, and she did so much for me even after I told her there’s no need, butthat’s also her problem. She butts in way too much, and at this point I’mwondering why it is that she’s so nosy. Am I just being paranoid? Well, ifmy finger gets infected because of this on the spot surgery, I’ll just haunther after I die (just kidding).Traversing the snowy wonderland that seemed to spread out in front of uswithout end, there were many times where we’d get our hopes up and thinkwe’ve made it back to the lodging, only to then realize we just saw a mirage.Be it weird, brown rocks that resembled the wooden logs of our lodging, orjust a random animal herd, our disappointment grew ever moreimmeasurable, and our day all the more ruined.It came to a point where we started placing bets as to whether or not we’llmake it home.“Ooh! Ooh! I think I see the lodging!” Said Marina as she pointed to what shehad seen.“I bet ten silvers she just found another rock.” I said without a hint ofoptimism in my voice.“Alright then, ten silvers says she’s right, and it is the lodging.” Said the OldMan, “You better uphold your end of the deal, y’hear?”“Didn’t take you for the gambling type, Old Man.” I tried egging him on,“Where’d this come from?”“Hey, I’m just trying to pass the time.” He shrugged with an annoying grin,“Even so, you’re the one that suggested the bet in the first place, your motherwould be ashamed of you.”This jeer that he thought to be lighthearted in fact tugged on my heartstringsthe most. As someone who left his home and parents from a pretty early age,having some random Old Man go on about my mother made me quite mad.“The fuck do you know about my mother?!” I yelled out, surprising Marinawith my sudden increase in volume, “Hey! Say one more word about her andyou’re dead!”I had expected him to start mocking me once again, or perhaps get a bit angryhimself, but this didn’t happen. What instead happened was that he shut upalmost immediately and apologized after a moment.“… Sorry. I obviously struck a nerve. I won’t ever mention her again.” Hesaid quietly, but loud enough for us to hear him, “Lune, I didn’t mean tooffend you, honest, but you have to calm down for now. Hate me for cuttingyour fingers off, heck I’ll even let you do the same to me when we get back tosafety.” He went up close to me to show me his sincerity, “But for Gods’sakes, please wait until we get home. Now’s not the time for bickering, andyou know that.”The words he said had struck deep. I knew from the bottom of my heart thatthere was never a problem that was solved by being stubborn or angsty. Butit’s not that simple! You’re the man that permanently removed a part of mybody! If I could just let go of these negative emotions, I would, but I can’t!I hate you from the bottom of my soul!“…” I stood quietly in the snow as he held my shoulders, “Fine. I’ll try toforget what you did for now, but heed my words: I will never forget!”“Spoken like a true adventurer.” He smiled honestly at my proclamation,“Seems you’ve learned a valuable lesson. You’ll meet loads more peoplewho will do the same (if not worse) things that I did back at the cavern. Inthese situations, no matter how difficult it is, you need to think about thepresent and simply endure.”“Oh? Sounds like you’re speaking from experience, heh!” I tried to poke funat his overly-serious advice.“…” He did nothing but stand there, gripping my shoulders tighter with eachpassing second. It was only for a split second, but I could feel his handsgetting warmer. After that, all the strength in his grip had dissipated as he letgo of my shoulders, and I could see in his eyes a single tear start to form.He shook it off and started hopping around in the snow to where Marina washeaded. Maybe I went too far, I should apolo- NO! He doesn’t deserve anapology. If anything, I can’t wait to chop off two of his own fingers! Let’ssee how you like it, Old Man!After Marina’s prediction was in fact proven wrong (it was just a weirdlyshaped boulder), I had gotten an interesting idea.“You think we’d see something if we scaled that there boulder?” I asked, “Iknow it sounds a bit dangerous, but a high vantage point would do us plentygood in my opinion.”“Scaling a boulder?? Uuugh, I can barely walk on this snow and now youwant me to go all the way up there?” Marina complained, ”Apart from that,I’ve just recently learned that I’m really not good with heights, so it’sdefinitely not a good idea!”“I dunno, I’m with Lune on this one.” Said Linus, “I understand your worries,girlie, but in these situations getting a good bearing of our surroundings is thebest thing to ask for.”She kept groaning at the prospect, but after a while of Linus continuallynaming off all the pros of this plan as opposed to the few cons, she finallycaved and started climbing (the complaining didn’t stop on her end, though).“Wait, before we start.” Said Linus, “Let’s check what the Book says. Maybethere’s something we missed.”“Nah, let’s just go. I’ve got a good feeling about this.” I said, refusing to takeit out of my backpack.He seemed displeased with my answer, so he started his whole spiel on whywe can’t take any risks at this point and so on, but I couldn’t care less. ThisBook is the whole reason we’re in such dire straits from the beginning! I’mnot holding onto it to use it, I’m keeping it from people like you who can’tthink for themselves!“Boy, if you’re gonna be difficult about this, then hand over the Book.” Hesaid with a more serious tone, “Don’t keep me waiting now.”“Like I said: My gut’s never been wrong. Have at least some faith in me, it’sthe least you could to if you ever wanna atone for your actions.”The air was getting quite heavy around us, but Marina quickly interrupted theordeal before it got too out of hand. She jumped in between us and basicallydefused the situation outright by mentioning how she trusts my gut instinctsand doesn’t want any one of us to butt heads anymore.“See?” I said, smugly looking over to where Linus was standing, “At leastsomeone’s got the right mindset. Thanks, Marina!”“Heheh, no problem!” She accepted the praise without a moment’s notice.Linus stood there, begrudgingly suppressing his rage, all the while weclimbed the boulder. The sounds of our pickaxes hitting into the hard rockechoed far into the foggy wasteland, and before we knew it, we had made itto the top.“See anything?” Linus asked upon scouting out his side, “Because all I see issnow. Not even our footprints from the Cavern can be seen anymore. That’sjust how scary this weather’s getting. We’ll soon have a blizzard on ourhands.”“I can’t see anything either.” I reported, “Ugh, this hand’s killing me! Marina,you sure you couldn’t have stitched it on better?” I went to cup it with myright hand.Just then, I felt something welling up from my stomach. I was getting excited,since this is the exact feeling I get when I use Spark. The thought ofexperiencing the warmth from my flame made me almost jump for joy, butsomething was off. The feeling that trickled slowly from my torso was quitestrong. It was as if all the rage had been building up for this moment.Slowly, slowly making it’s way from my chest, then through the shoulder,moving its way to the forearm, then finally…!“OW! FUCK!” I screamed in pain.What I had expected to be a bit of warmth pop out of my finger stub wasactually something more akin to molten lava. I immediately tried to get it tocalm down, and even tried burying my hand in snow, but it was to no avail.The other two were now getting progressively more worried about me andoffered to help in any way they could. In the end, I imagine our party lookedquite goofy, panicking atop a lone boulder in the middle of Sibirus, but at themoment I couldn’t care less.I then realized that instead of tried to hold this painful fire in, the best courseof action would be to let it burst out instead. Since the best way to describe itis as if a pipe was clogged, the best course of action would be to let it all outbefore normal operations could continue.As such, I counted in my head “1, 2, 3!” and pointed it in front of me in arandom direction. The flame that had popped out was one the size of mywhole body, and the speed at which it travelled sent me flying back in theopposite direction, with both Linus and Marina barely being able to catch mebefore I fell off.We stood there in awe for a while, and since the heat had warmed us up quitenicely, we had all the time in the world to observe this spectacle as it racedthrough the sky, seemingly without losing any speed whatsoever.“You…” Marina finally broke the ice (metaphorically), “You good?”“Yeah. I’m feeling better. The pain’s mostly gone too, like when you barf andthen feel better after.” I explained this feeling to the best of my abilities.“Ew, gross!” She hit me in the head, “Find a better analogy!”“Guys! Screw that! Thanks to Lune’s fireball thingy, the fog got a bit clearer!I can see something that looks like lights from the lodging!” Linus said,looking at where the fireball went.For the record, Old Man, it’s not a fireball thingy, it’s Spark! Well, I guessFireball would be a more adequate name for it…“But why (and how for that matter) did you do that, Big Bro?” Marina turnedto ask me as we descended the boulder carefully.“Dunno. Like I said previously, similar to throwing up, I just felt the need tolet it out suddenly. As to why it was so strong this time, my only guess isbecause I lack the finger to properly channel it, similar to how a cannon witha shorter barrel would pack a stronger punch in exchange for accuracy.”“Look at you, Mr. Weapons Expert!” Linus praised me offhandedly. Igenuinely can’t tell you if he’s being serious or sarcastic.“I just read a lot of books is all. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve never even seen acannon in real life,” I tried to explain myself, “I’ve never been to Sulfury,after all.”“Here’s to hoping you never even visit it.“ Said Linus with a complicatedface, ”That damned place is nothing more than an endless warzone designedto pit two factions against each other. Although according to your story, yousaid you’ll have to go there eventually.”“Yeah, but I did make a point to visit it as my last destination, so who knowswhen that time will come.” I answered back truthfully.“Smart, as it’s such a dangerous country, you won’t ever know if you’ll makeit out of there alive.” Marina joined the conversation.“Who knows, I might just swoop in there with my newly discovered abilityand wipe them all out!” I said as I chucked another snowball sized fireballinto the distance.It appears as though unleashing this giant fireball had caused my Spark tofinally mature enough for me to be able to use it in combat a bit moreproficiently. Nonetheless, I can now use both Spark and Fireball incontrolled amounts! (Well, it’s still extremely draining to pull off a fireballeven if it’s this small, so I’ll probably stick to Spark for now…)We finally started to open up to each other once more after a bit of hope wastossed our way, but who knows how long this warm ambient will last. Afterall, a fire in a blizzard will always die out sooner or later.