Chapter 15: Journey of Revelations

Nic felt something on his chest as the sunlight snuck in through a slightly ajar window board. The sunlight was sitting at the right angle to hit his right eye.

As he let out a soft sigh, he felt someone else's heartbeat beat softly against his side as her shallow breaths tickled his arms. Looking down he found a mess of brown hair strewn about his body.

Aria was lying peacefully in his arms, as she had the night before as well.

It was the third day since they had left Sanum. By the time the sun set Nic, Aria, and Sarman would be well on their way to Rad-Town S-086.

The day prior had been spent helping Sarah and Kiara with their initial delve into the heart of the forest. It had ultimately ended with them only making it a chunk of the way in. No one had gotten hurt in the expedition as there had been no monster sightings at all. Rust was wary of this unusual emptiness in the forest and had constructed an additional wall further out from the town to act as an additional stop point if the monsters decided to attack.

Aria’s father had also decided that simply having two extra hands from Sanum would not be enough and sent a message to Ordwell asking for even more hands. The backup was set to arrive by noon on the third day. Nic and Sarman had agreed to stay until the second wave of hands from Sanum arrived.

And so they had ended up staying another night, which meant that Aria and Nic had been forced to share a bed yet again.

Nic had eventually succumbed to Aria’s plea on the first night and had slept in the same bed as her. While nothing happened between the two, Nic had found Aria’s presence next to him while sleeping quite relaxing.

He had never slept as peacefully as he had that night.

So when they decided to stay another night, Nic was far more willing to sleep with Aria next to him again.

He reached over with his free hand and gently petted Aria’s head as she soundly slept on top of his other arm.

If the sun hadn’t woken him up, Nic would’ve soundly slept for a while longer. He enjoyed the peace that permeated throughout the room.

Nic was taken out of his thoughts as Aria raised her head. Groggily wiping her eyes she looked down at Nic’s face and smiled.

“Is it morning?” Aria’s sleepy voice caused Nic’s heart to stop for a second as he wished this moment could last forever.

“Mhm, but we don’t have to get up yet. You can go back to sleep if you want.”

“Aaaaahhhhhhhmmmmmghhhhhh” Aria let out a long wordless sound as she sat upright and stretched her arms over her head. At times like these, she seemed so small to Nic. He wanted to hold her tight, never letting her go. “Don’t tempt me.” Aria fell back onto Nic’s chest as she finished stretching. He couldn’t see her face anymore, but her joyous voice told him everything he needed to know. “I could sleep here all day if I was allowed.”

“I would love to do nothing but that.” Nic wrapped his arms around the girl on top of him and held her close. Her scent filled his nose as they sat there in silence. Nic savored every second of it.

The two continued on in silence for a while longer. They let the heat of their bodies say anything that needed to be said. Some birds could be heard chirping outside. Soon more and more sounds joined the mix.

Aric had woken up and the day was truly beginning for everyone.

Bam!

The door to the room slammed open as a woman who looked very similar to Nic barged in.

“Rise and shine younguns! Huh? I’m too late?!” Nic’s mother, Kayla, feigned mortification upon seeing the two lying together in the bed. The smile on her lips betrayed her true feelings for the two.

“Well, once you get up, I’ve got some food made for us three if you want it.” Nic could already smell the food himself wafting in from the open door. Aria could also smell it and sat upright immediately.

“We’ll be right out!” She had apparently grown quite fond of the food that Kayla made every morning and night. Kayla gave Aria a smile before leaving.

As soon as the door closed, Aria practically jumped out of the bed. She had her clothes in a bag on top of Nic’s dresser. She was already starting to strip before she even got to it. Realizing just how fast she was undressing, Nic quickly looked away, his face heating up at the same time.

He sat quietly, listening to the ruffling of Aria’s clothes as she quietly hummed a children’s tune.

“Nic, aren’t you going to get- why are you so red?! And looking away?” Aria stopped mid-question to ask Nic two more questions as she finally looked at him.

Not sure if she was done herself, Nic continued to face the wall away from Aria while he answered.

“You just started changing! What am I supposed to do except look away?” Nic had already seen parts of her body before, but he wasn’t willing to look at her without Aria first saying that it was okay.

Aria stayed quiet, letting her footsteps echo in the room, beating alongside every two beats of Nic’s heart. The bed creaked ever so slightly as Aria got on it and put her hands on Nic’s shoulders.

His entire body stiffened as he felt Aria press her body into his back. She whispered softly in his ear, causing his already fast-beating heart to beat even faster.

“So you’re embarrassed to see me?”

“You know that’s not what I meant!” Nic nearly shouted as he tried to clear up what she was saying.

“What about last night? Or the night before? We’ve slept together in the same bed, and yet you're too scared to look at me?”

Her tantalizing voice infected Nic’s mind. He wanted to turn around. But he wanted her to say it directly first.

“Can I?”

A small giggle answered him as the weight disappeared from his back.

“If that’s what you want, I’m fine with it.”

Nic closed his eyes. His chest was thumping against his ribs with everything it had. So much, that his ribs were starting to hurt themselves. He turned around on the bed.

He opened his eyes.

Aria was standing in front of him… already completely dressed. A huge grin was plastered over her face and as Nic’s eyes betrayed his own feelings of pain, she started laughing.

“Aria!” Hearing her laughter, Nic tried to reach out to grab her. He was going to pull her into his lap again as her punishment for making him feel embarrassed. Yet announcing you are moving is never a smart decision.

Aria quickly stepped out of Nic’s way, letting him fall to the floor. He lay there, looking at the feet of the woman in front of him. He had let her tease him this early in the morning.

Nic was never going to hear the end of it.

Aria squatted down and patted Nic on the head. “There there. You may have missed me this time, but maybe next time… like say… tonight?”

Nic looked up at Aria, his face showing how he felt. Yet looking at her own face, he was unsure if she was teasing him again.

“If you don’t want me to see it yet, you can just say so. I don’t want to force anything.” Nic grumbled as he got up. Aria reached out and grabbed his hand.

“I don’t mind…” Aria almost mumbled the words so much that Nic barely understood what she was saying. But even still, his face got red in an instant.

“I'm gonna change! You can go out and eat.” Nic practically forced Aria out of the room and shut the door quickly. He leaned against it as he caught his breath.

The rest of the morning was far more uneventful and Nic and Aria soon found themselves back in the small circular city square in the center of Aric. The carriage bringing the second round of hands to deal with the forest monster situation had just arrived.

Three more mages and four physical fighters had come this time, greatly increasing the strength of the team dealing with the monsters. Nic didn’t know any of them, though Sarman apparently recognized quite a few. He gave them a few words of thanks before they left with Sarah and Kiara to start making a plan to scout the forest.

The biggest surprise of that noon meeting came from Rust.

“I’m going with this group to S-086.”

“HUH?!” Nic, Aria, Sarman, and Kayde all let out a unified sound as Rust stated his intentions.

“Rust, we need you here! What about the defense of the city?” Kayde was the first one to question why Rust was leaving. He had been a part of the force investigating the monster situation, so for him to state so suddenly that he was leaving was a shock to the acting leader of the City-State.

“You just got in another seven members to help discover the truth at the heart of the forest. You won’t need me for that. And as for the city proper, I’ve already erected two stone walls. I made traps in between them this morning. You should be fine.” Rust shot back, covering all of his bases in the conversation in one fell swoop. As long as the attack on the City-State was not too great, they would be fine. “Besides, I know some people in S-086. They might be in danger because of the monster situation as well. The Rad-Town is on the other side of the forest after all.”

Kayde contemplated what Rust said before giving the dwarf a small smile.

“I guess you’re right. We can’t just leave them defenseless either. Alright. I’ll accept you going.” Kayde agreed fairly fast in the grand scheme of things. It seemed that Rust had at least mentioned this possibility before they knew what sort of reinforcements they would be getting. “Just make sure to keep the kids safe?”

“Hahaha! You have two Spirit Progenitor contractors in those kids. If anything, they’ll be the ones keeping me safe. But I’ll make sure that they don’t do anything stupid.” Rust extended his arm out to Kayde, he took it in a firm grasp.

And with that, their group suddenly gained a fourth member. After saying goodbye to their parents, Nic and Aria joined Sarman and Rust at the southern gate of Aric.

The sun was still high when they started their journey down the worn path that would eventually lead them east to the Rad-Town designated S-086. The first half-day leg of the journey was uneventful and the four of them soon found themselves looking for a suitable place to rest for the night.

“If we can find some good, even ground we should be fine.” Rust already had a plan for where they would stay in mind, he just needed a suitable area. They were currently trekking through a hilly area of the route.

The route itself skirted on the southern edge of the forest from just past Aric all the way to S-086 where it would leave the Irradiated Forest behind and continue eastward as an actually paved road instead of simply compact dirt.

On their left, the darkness of the forest loomed large and wide. While they were traveling along the path, Rust had to forbid them from entering the forest in any way. This meant that they could only look for flat space on the right side of the road. This side was devoid of almost all shrubbery and trees. Vast plains extended as far as the eye could see. The occasional building could be seen.

“Are those buildings inhabited?” Aria asked the question that was on all three minds as they searched the area near the road.

“Maybe they were once, millennia ago. But not now. They are burial sights of those who died during the first Irradiated Winter now.” Rust answered without any emotion. He had seen those houses back when they were inhabited by people. And now each one was a ruin that signified death.

The group eventually found a place suitable for Rust’s plan. As he planted his hand on the ground, the earth shook, throwing the other three off balance. A hut made of stone came out of the ground. It wasn’t anything special, just enough room for two people to sleep comfortably, three if they squeezed together. It was tall enough that Sarman, the tallest one in the group, could stand up straight and just barely graze the ceiling with his hair.

Outside of the hut, four stone benches appeared in a semi-circle while a smaller circle in the middle appeared for a fire.

With his work done, Rust clapped his hands together before turning to the group.

“Here is where we will be staying for the night. We’ll have watch duty in two’s tonight. But for now, let’s get a fire started and some food cooking!” Rust was quick with his words as his stomach audibly grumbled. Nic could feel his own stomach getting close to doing the same thing.

Firewood was easy to find this close to the forest. Deadwood was strewn all over the side of the road. Gathering up a few handfuls each, they combined them together in the smaller circle. With a snap of his fingers, Sarman lit the wood into a warming blaze. The sun was just setting as the fire started, so it also gave the group the light they would need to cook some food.

“How long will the trek to the Rad-Town take?” Nic spoke up as they began preparing the food. It seemed like Rust knew the route they were taking well, so Nic was interested to see how long he thought this would take.

“Hmmm… Depending on how fast we walk, around seven days? The forest here is far larger than you might think.” Seven days was actually on the lower end. Based on the maps, Sarman had estimated nearly ten whole days to get there. Thankfully they were planning on getting some horses for the trip back, so it wouldn’t take quite as long.

“Seven days? We better ration our food then.” Aria was taking stock of everything they had brought with them. They had packed for three people, not four, so they would need to ration out a bit more in order to make their supplies last.

“Or we can add some natural stuff to the list.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“The plains around here are full of smaller creatures. We can kill one or two each day and add them to the plans for dinner. That should help the supplies, right?”

Aria looked to Nic and Sarman after hearing Rust’s suggestion. Nic merely shrugged back at her. He didn’t mind the plan. In fact, he thought it was a great way to make sure their supplies would last as long as they needed them to.

They all agreed to the plan and in short order, the food they made for that night had been completed. As the group sat around the fire eating their first dinner on the way to S-086, Nic looked over at Rust.

“So you know someone in the Rad-Town?”

Rust nodded as he took a bite out of the meat in his hands. Wiping away the juices from around his mouth he looked at Nic.

“She’s someone you should meet yourself as well. Though I’m sure you’ve at least heard of her after living in Sanum.”

Nic, Sarman, and Aria quizzically looked at each other as Rust paused to take another bite of his food.

“Surely you’ve all heard of the Blood Elf?”

“The Blood Elf?!” Sarman cried out almost, almost dropping his own food. Aria and Nic were also shocked by the name drop. Statues of her had been erected all over Sanum, as she was the being who originally cleared it of Irradiation back during the first Irradiated Winter.

She hadn’t been seen in the world for a while now, but Rust was saying she was living within the Rad-Town they were heading to.

“That’s right.” Rust nodded as he looked at the surprised expressions of the people around him. “Crystal is the current head of that Rad-Town. I haven’t talked to her in a while though. She needs to know about the movement of the monsters within the forest as 086 is situated on the other side of the forest.”

“So… Why must I meet with the Blood Elf herself?” Nic questioned why he needed to meet her. He wasn’t too knowledgeable about her past and achievements past how she helped create Sanum.

“Well… How about I tell you the name she has been going by for some time? The full name that she has been going by is Crystal Serilo.”

“Serilo?” All three of them connected her last name to Nic’s. They were different, but only by a single letter.

“Well, she has never been good at naming things. Her actual name is Crystal Verilo.”

“Huh?!”

“After all, she fell in love with Noah Verilo and ended up marrying him during the first Irradiated Winter.” Just like that, Rust dropped a knowledge bomb that completely phased all three of the listeners.

Nic hadn’t been expecting that. As far as he knew, he had no elven blood within his body. But if the Blood Elf was his ancestor as well, then there should have been some sort of traits common to them within him. Yet there was nothing.

Nic always knew that there was someone who had eventually bore the child of his ancestor. It had been written in the journal that he had kept. There had never been a name. That had been specifically written out.

The Blood Elf had supposedly been able to do the same thing as Nic could; purify Irradiation. Her freeing the City-State of Sanum and other prominent cities were proof of that very feat. Nic could accept her having a high enough resistance to Irradiation to be in close proximity to his ancestor.

“How does that work? If she loved Nic’s ancestor, why leave him? Why change her last name? This doesn’t make any sense!” Aria raised her own confusion to Rust. Nic realized that she had to be in a confusing position. Aria was in a similar situation to the one that the Blood Elf had supposedly been in during the first Irradiated Winter. If anything, her questions yearned for answers that would solidify her own choices.

“Hmmm… There is someone here that would be able to answer those questions better than I could.” Rust seemingly looked straight into Aria’s eyes.

Aria fidgeted before opening her eyes wide in surprise as the wind in front of her formed itself into a light green set of armor. It was as big as Aria and seemed to be made to conform to her body, giving it more of a womanly appearance. But when it spoke, an androgynous voice belonging to someone neither male nor female, came out from an area near the headpiece of the armor.

“Rust.” The armor bowed its head slightly to the dwarf, already on a first name-bases with the man, before turning to Nic. “I believe this is the first time we have met face-to-face, successor of Verilo, though I have kept an eye on you for a while. I am Aerial, Progenitor of wind spirits.”

Nic knew about the spirit in front of him. Aria had told him about the spirit soon after Jack’s attack on Sanum, and even before that, Nic had an inkling that Aria had contracted with the spirit, even if she didn’t know. When he first met Rust in the old household of the Verilo family, Rust mentioned that he had been chosen by the Progenitor.

“So we finally get to meet face to… armor?” Nic shrugged his shoulders as the small green blob that was the lesser spirit that Nic was contracted to appeaed in front of Nic’s face, buzzing around happily. “You are the one to thank for me contracting with this lesser spirit back then?”

The armor nodded back to Nic before turning towards Sarman.

“Why are you hiding, brother? Come out and say hi properly.” The armor folded its empty arms as it waited for a burst of flames to appear around Sarman. When the flames did appear, they quickly formed the shape of a flaming lizard as Salamander glared at the armor.

“Hello, sibling. I’m sure you are more than aware of why I didn’t want to come out. You’re not gonna try anything today, are you?” When the armor shook its head, the lizard let out a deep sigh of relief before finding a comfortable position next to Sarman to sit. “I take it you need my input on this story you’re about to tell?”

“That I do, brother.” The armor finally turned back to its contractor and bowed entirely. “Aria, I’m afraid the answer to each of your questions is the same…”

“The same? What was it?”

“Me.”

“Huh?” Nic, Aria, and Sarman were confused at the response that Aerial gave them.

“It’s time for the truth, I guess.” The spirit sat down on a rock that Rust forced up. They nodded to the dwarf in thanks before beginning his tale.

“Three centuries have passed since your ancestor,” The armor motioned to Nic. “since your ancestor caused the first Irradiated Winter.”

Nic cast his gaze down. He had read his ancestor's journal time and time again. He knew the story by heart. Seemingly seeing Nic’s face grow downtrodden, Aerial cleared his “throat” before adding something to what he said.

“Let me say this, Nic. Your ancestor was not actually to blame for the Irradiated Winter.”

Nic’s head snapped to the armor sitting next to him. What did the spirit know that his ancestor hadn’t?

“Have you heard of Kronus?”

Nic and Aria shook their heads while Sarman nodded. It was very similar to what the entire continent they lived on was called; Kronul. A connection between the two was likely, though Nic didn’t know who this ‘Kronus’ was.

“There is a religious group that lives near the middle of the world in a mountain range. The mountain range is named “The World’s Eye” as it apparently looks like one if you fly into the sky.” Sarman was the one who spoke up, explaining how he knew the name. “The group that lives there call themselves ‘Kronus’ Monks’. They have occasionally come to Sanum to recruit new members. Father meets with them every time.”

The armor nodded, accepting Sarman’s answer.

“Kronus is… the creator of the spirit progenitors. A true god, as some might say.”

A true god.

Nic had heard of the many religions that had sprouted throughout the world. There were over a dozen, but a large portion of them are similar. Nine of the religions focus on the spirit progenitors themselves. They worship them as godly deities. There was a religion for each spirit progenitor and the ninth worshipped all eight equally.

Kronus was supposedly the creator of each of those progenitors. Calling him a “true god” seemed to be an apt description.

“A… god…” Aria mumbled under her breath as she also attempted to understand what Aerial was saying.

“That’s right. Before the first Irradiated Winter, his name was much more well-known. In fact, those who couldn’t use magic always prayed to him to awaken to magic. And one of those kids happened to be named Noah Verilo.”

Nic closed his eyes and let out a long breath. He knew what Aerial was about to say. It hadn’t been his ancestor’s fault. It was Kronus’ decision.

Nic’s dream went against the intentions of a god.

Would he be able to truly achieve anything in life then?

Was his family doomed to live this way for all eternity?

Nic didn’t have anything else. The only things he had to his name were his ability that went against the will of a god and swordsmanship that was useless when paired with two spirit progenitor contractors.

“Noah Verilo was marked by Kronus to be the unfortunate soul that would steep the world in Irradiation.”

Nic felt something warm lean into his sides. Opening his eyes, he found Aria there, leaning herself into his body. Whether it was an attempt to console him or to console herself, Nic was thankful for her being there.

“So where does the Blood Elf come in?” Sarman cast a short glance at Nic and Aria before turning back to Aerial with a question. It might’ve been the fire, but Nic thought that Sarman’s face was slightly red.

“After living by himself for twenty years, Noah Verilo was visited by three people in short succession. The first was Crystal. She was looking for a way to stop the Irradiation from growing and so head ventured into the forest it originated from. Due to the spirit her soul had converged with, she has a much greater resistance to Irradiation than even more demi-humans.”

“The second was me.” Rust picked up seamlessly from where Aerial ended their sentence. “I was actually a miner in the forest when the first Irradiated Winter happened. I had been underground near the Worldly River. I became a dwarf down there as I was surrounded by countless rock spirits. However, a cave-in happened soon after and I became stuck down there. Almost directly below ground zero. I was hit multiple times by waves of intense Irradiation while down there. Each one caused another rock spirit to be absorbed into my soul. Eventually, I became who I am now and was able to make my way out. It was a coincidence that I arrived at the place where Noah was living.”

Rust finished his introduction and began eating again as Aerial once again spoke up.

“I was the final visitor. Though I had been warned against going near your ancestor by Kronus, all of us progenitors had, I was actually keeping tabs on Crystal at the time. Like her, I heard Noah’s lament about what had happened and I wanted to help him.”

The head of the armor dropped down as Aerial spoke. Their voice struggled to come out as they recounted the past. The flaming lizard that had been sitting next to Sarman walked up and sat next to the armor, putting one of its legs reassuringly on the armor.

“We were all told the same thing by Kronus. The advent of Irradiation would last for five centuries and the person who caused it was named Noah Verilo.” Salamander spoke softly. His grave words revealed certain truths about the world. “The name meant nothing to most of us so when humans would ask us what happened, we would willingly tell them. That was how the Verilo name became so hated.” Salamander bowed its head towards Nic.

Anger flashed through Nic. He had finally found the reason for his family's discrimination after all this time. Yet he had been saved by Salamander before. Aerial had also saved him, and given him this ability he had.

Nic couldn’t hate the two people in front of him.

Maybe if he met another of the progenitors, he would feel the want to attack them in anger.

“I won’t hate you just for that, Salamander. Not after what you have done for me since I came to Sanum.”

“If it’s any consolation, once I did learn the truth from Aerial here, I tried to reverse the damage I did. The same can be said of Sterling and Undine. The others, I can’t speak on.” Four spirit progenitors including Aerial and Salamander. That was how many supposedly didn’t hate his family.

But not hating him didn’t mean that they would be willing to support him.

“That’s actually the answer to one of Aria’s questions. The reason that Crystal would eventually use a different last name was that she would be ostracized in every city she went to if she used Verilo.” Aerial finally spoke back up. Its voice was struggling to not slip up.

“As for why she left in the first place… that one is because of me. She had spent ten years with Noah at that point. The two were in love and Crystal had spent the entire decade working to figure out a way to reverse what had been done to Noah. She found it. She was so close to freeing the world from Irradiation right then and there.”

The spirit's voice cracked as they spoke. It felt like Nic could see the tears that should’ve been forming in the spirit’s eyes as they talked. Whatever they had done in the past, the weight of it loomed heavy on their very sense of being.

Nic felt something in his own stomach. There was no other way for Aerial’s story to end. Crystal hadn’t freed the Verilo family line.

“Kronul came to me one night. He knew what was going on. He was going to burn the world if I didn’t stop Crystal. The world has to suffer for five hundred years. So I did as he told me to. I convinced Crystal to leave, to bide her time until those five hundred years had passed.” The armor shook, its unsteady voice leaving behind whispers in Nic’s ears.

Aerial had been unable to go against Kronus. And so Nic’s family had suffered for generations.

Nic should have been angry. He should have been furious with the spirit. But…

“You changed your mind.”

“Huh?” The spirit looked up at Nic. It had been expecting to see a face filled with pain, and yet all it saw was someone so calm it was almost eerie.

“You changed your mind in the end. It’s only been three hundred years since that day, and yet here I am. I can reverse the damage that Irradiation has done to this world, just like how Crystal wanted all those years ago.”

Nic had a fire burning inside of him. The blaze was willing to go up against the strongest force. Not the spirit in front of him. The one above it. The one that ordered it in the first place. Nic wanted revenge. But he wanted it on Kronus.

“You’re…! Ahahaha I knew it… Nic, you are willing to go against the laws that govern this world, aren’t you?” Aerial posed a simple question to Nic, yet it made him grin as he answered.

“I don’t have anything else special about me. No quirks, no special skills. This ability, no this purpose is all I have. If I have to go against a god to keep it, then so be-”

SLAP

The sound reverberated through the campsite. Nic was caught off guard by the stinging on his cheek. Aria was standing in front of him, her arm still after having hit Nic’s face. Her back was towards the fire, so her face was covered in shadows.

Something wet hit Nic’s knee.

“Aria…?”

He barely whispered her name before she bolted off. Nic sat there stunned before Sarman appeared in his vision. Veins were building out of his head as he grabbed Nic by the collar and forced him up.

“Go after her, you idiot!” He shoved Nic in the direction that Aria had run. Nic stumbled as he found his footing. He looked back at Sarman, but that seemed to only piss the man off more. “Don’t look at me! I’m not the one you need to be apologizing to!”

Sarman eventually ran Nic out of the encampment. The light of the fire was no longer behind him as he stumbled through the grassy plains.

He wasn’t sure why Aria had been so upset, he had only spoken the truth that everyone should’ve known at that point. She had been overreacting.

As he wandered the edge of the plains, the sounds of the nearby trees rustling drowned out most of the noise at night.

But the sound of crying cut through it.

“Aria…?”

He found her sitting on a rock on the side of the road. When she heard Nic say her name she got up and grabbed his shirt with both hands before headbutting his chest.

“Don’t say that ever again…” Her shaky voice quietly came out in between sobs.

“Say what? That I would fight a god…?”

She gripped his shirt even tighter and yelled at him.

“I don’t care about that! If you want to fight a god, I’ll be there by your side! Don’t ever say that the only thing you are good for is your magic! It’s not true! It never has been and it never will be!”

“What…?”

“You have your skills with the sword for one! You trained under Yuuki, just like Sarah. You are better than almost anyone else at the University, and even a large portion of the Sanum guards. Sure, Yuuki may be better than you now, but in the future, I’m sure you’ll surpass even her! Second…” Aria went on and on as she cried into Nic’s shirt. His earnestness and kindness that he tried to always hide. His ability to learn and adapt. Sure he wasn’t the smartest person in the room, but he was willing to put in the work to better himself.

By the time Aria stopped crying, Nic himself was starting to feel convinced by what she said. He eventually wrapped his arms around her.

The two stayed like that for a while.

“I’m sorry…” Nic apologized softly.

“Never say that again.” Aria sniffled as she looked up at him.

“I won’t.”

“...”

“...”

“Do you remember the way back?” Aria looked around. She had run off without warning and while crying. The reason she had even been sitting on the rock in the first place was the fact that she had gotten lost.

“Mhm. It should be this way.”

Nic led the way as they wandered back towards the campsite, hand in hand. It didn’t take long for them to reach the warm light of the fire, though the rest of their camp looked slightly different. A second hut had been erected by Rust next to the first one.

Sarman turned to Nic as soon as he was next to the fire. He looked between Nic and Aria before sighing. “If she hadn’t slapped you, I would’ve punched you myself, got it?”

Nic nodded nervously.

“I’m sorry for what I said.” Nic turned to Aerial. “I’m sorry for what happened there, but… If it will free my family from this curse, I will oppose Kronul.”

The spirit stood up and extended an arm to Nic, who graciously took it.

“In that case, there is one thing you should know. I have kept Kronul in the dark about you for as long as I could. But once you come into contact with Crystal, he will know about you.”

A warning.

Nic had his plan already set in motion. Meeting the Blood Elf would further his goal to rid the world of Irradiation.

But it would alert the being who would pose the greatest risk to those plans.

Nic wouldn’t stop.

“That’s fine with me. I’ll work till this world is free of Irradiation, whether or not Kronus likes it.”

The spirit seemed pleased with Nic’s answer. It didn’t have a face, a smile, or even cheery eyes, but still, Nic could feel an aura coming from the suit of armor.

“In that case, I think it’s about time for this storytime to come to an end. You all should get some sleep, there is a long journey ahead of us.”

Nic looked at Sarman who shrugged and walked into one of the two huts near the campsite.

“What about the watch? Someone needs to stay on alert through the night.” Aria brought up their previous agreement about keeping a watch over the group.

“Ah, that, don’t worry about it. Aerial here and I will take care of the night watches. As spirits, we don’t need sleep.” The flaming lizard sitting in the middle of the fire spoke up. Salamander and Aerial were perfectly fine staying up through the night, so long as they were somewhat near their contractors.

Accepting the answer, Nic and Aria were directed into the second hut by Rust. The inside was large enough that the two of them would have enough room to sleep separately if they wanted to. Some natural light from the moon streamed in through small slits on the roof of the hut.

“I’ll let you out in the morning once it’s safe to leave.” Rust left the two of them with a final note before filling up the entrance to the hut with rock, locking them inside.

Nic grabbed the blanket he had brought with him and sat against one of the walls. Despite being in an enclosed space, he didn’t feel comfortable sleeping directly on the floor that night. So he leaned his back against the wall.

Aria quickly grabbed a similar blanket and sat down next to Nic. She was close enough that the two could feel each other’s warmth through the blankets. She rested her head on Nic’s chest.

“Do you mind…?” Aria glanced up at Nic as she whispered. Nic shook his head.

Like the previous nights in Aric, Nic felt at peace with Aria next to him. Just to show her how fine he was with this arrangement, Nic repositioned his blanket so that it also wrapped around Aria.

Her breathing slowed as she slipped into a peaceful sleep. Nic could feel each shallow breath on his chest. His eyelids soon became heavy, feeling the rhythmic pattern.

As his mind skirted on the realm of consciousness, he thought about the words that Aria had said that evening. He told her he would stop saying the things he had.

Nic wanted to be the person that Aria thought he was. He wanted to believe her words. But something in him couldn’t let him accept them.

But he would stick to his promise.

If Nic didn’t say those words anymore, maybe that would be the first step he needed to take to change.

The midday sun beat down on the group as they started the trek up yet another hill on their journey to the Rad-Town S-086. It had now been just over three weeks since Yuuki had disappeared from Sanum. They had been walking for six days now.

Aerial and Rust had informed them that they were indeed close now. Their pace had been faster than anticipated and they would arrive at their destination before midday the next day.

They had yet to encounter a single Monster or even wild animal on their journey. Even the small game that Rust had proposed adding to their dinners had been absent the entire time.

Nic stared at the top of the hill they were climbing. They were already over halfway up, and yet it seemed like an eternity away.

Fifty percent turned to seventy-five percent.

Aria stopped in her tracks and held up a finger to her lips, the universal sign to stay quiet. Seeing it forced Nic to focus on his surroundings again.

It was then that he heard the noises. An amalgamation of sounds that made his stomach squirm in fear. He wouldn’t be having lunch that day, that was for sure. But above those noises, Nic could hear a person’s voice shouting things.

The group quietly approached the zenith of the hill and looked down on the scene below.

There was a small valley after this hill but before another one, whose own zenith was about 150 mer away from the group's current locations.

In the valley between was a horrific scene. Monsters of all types; Gigant Bears, Thornback Spiders, War Birds, and even some that Nic didn’t recognize- were all fighting each other. They trampled over each other, clawed at each other, bite them… all to get ahead. They were being funneled through the valley. From the forest to the wide open plains.

And at the edge of the forest was the one doing the funneling: a person wearing a black cloak. The cloak obscured their features.

Sarman drew back and brought everyone into a small huddle.

“We can’t let the monsters get out into the plains.”

“Agreed.” Nic and Aria nodded as they let out a simple agreement.

“There are Rad-Towns out there that would be defenseless.” Rust also agreed though he showed that he was more worried for the people that it could affect.

“Then, in that case, I have a plan.” Sarman drew a few lines in the dirt behind them. It was a simple square with a few small dots in the middle and on one of the lines. “Aria, I need you to make a wind barrier along the tree line.” Sarman circled the line that had the dot. “Rust, can you make a stone barrier along the other hill and across the plains? We need to keep the monsters here.”

“Can do. So here and here?” Rust pointed at two of the other lines to which Sarman nodded.

“I’ll create the hottest flaming lance I can and use it to start a blaze in the monsters. It should take care of most of them by itself.”
“What do you want me to do?” Nic hadn’t been given an assignment yet. It was like Sarman hadn’t thought of something for him to do because there was no massive amount of Irradiation to absorb.

“You have two jobs Nic.” Sarman stared directly at Nic. “The first, and the least important of the two, is to keep an eye on that robbed man out there.”

“That’s… it…?” It was underwhelming, but what could Nic say? He didn’t have anything he could do in this fight.

“Nic, let me enlighten you on something. That man, he’s wearing the same type of garments that Jack was wearing when he attacked Aria and me in Sanum.” Nic looked at Aria who nodded to confirm Sarman’s statement. If the cloak was similar to Jack’s, there was a chance the man could create Irradiation as well. “And I have a second job for you as well. I’m going to be focused on killing as many as I can from far away. Aria and Rust will be focusing on keeping those barriers up. I need you to stand guard and kill any monsters that get close to us.”

“Huh?” Nic hadn’t been expecting the second one. He was being asked to use his sword?

“You’re as good as Yuuki on her average days now. No one else here is good enough with the sword to do their jobs and fight close range. It has to be you.” Sarman placed a hand on Nic’s shoulder reassuringly.

“Are you sure? What about keeping watch on the man? I might miss something if I’m taking out monsters.”

“I’ll try to take out as many as I can before they reach you, but I want you to prioritize the monsters. Unless that cloaked person attacks, don’t worry as much. If they run, that would be for the best. We need to focus on keeping the monsters out of the plains for now.”

Getting information on the robbed individual would be nice, but the monsters were their priority. Nic was being told that if push comes to shove, to focus solely on the monsters and his sword fighting.

Nic nodded his agreement to the plan. They quickly took off their bags and set them aside. Nic slipped his sheath onto his belt and gave a nod to Sarman to signal he was ready.

He took a breath as Aria was quickly covered in the armor of Aerial and Rust put his hand to the ground. The wind tore across the planes and the ground trembled.

Two walls appeared instantly. One was invisible in front of the tree line while the other, completely visible, covered the plains and the other hill.

Sarman stood atop the hill, a flame in his hands. It billowed and burned, growing brighter and brighter. The flame started red before turning orange and eventually a bright blueish-white. Nic could feel the heat, even standing quite a distance from Sarman.

The flames slowly turned into a long spear which Sarman threw with all of his strength. In an instant, white flames engulfed a large portion of the valley. Monsters screamed and cried as they burned alive.

The cloaked man himself quickly disappeared into the forest to escape the flames.

Not needing to focus on him, Nic turned to the hill where a number of monsters were already climbing up toward the ground.

Nic grabbed his sword and charged at the first monster, a Gigant Bear. The last time Nic had seen one of these monsters, it had been about to kill him. If Rust hadn’t stepped in at the time, he would’ve died far too soon.

He had cowered back then. Fell onto the ground and tried to run away.

Nic had trained since then. He had learned to use a sword.

He had gained the ability to absorb Irradiation.

There was no running away this time. Nic had a job to do.

As he got close, Nic slashed with the sword. It wasn’t a shallow cut, but Nic noticed it the second the blade touched the monster's skin. He had unintentionally ripped all of the Irradiation out of the monster in a single strike.

The Gigant Bear crashed to the ground beside Nic.

A new way of felling monsters had just been found. Nic could feel everyone staring at him as he stood there and looked at his sword.

He didn’t have any time to dally as a Thornback Spider charged its way at him, pincers snipping at his head. Nic ducked below them and broke one of the spider's legs with his sword. Once again, the instant it touched the monster, the sword absorbed every last drop of Irradiation out of the monster, causing it to fall.

A third monster, then a fourth, and a fifth. In the end, Nic felled a total of eight monsters like this. The rest burned to death by Sarman’s flames.

“What was that?!” Sarman was unusually happy as Nic walked up to him.

“If I’m being honest… I don’t know. It just happened, I guess.” Nic truly had no idea what had happened. It might’ve been just the sword, or the fact that it was Nic using the sword. Either way, it would be useful in the future if they ever had to fight monsters.

“Still!” Aria practically jumped on Nic’s arm. “You’re combining your skills into something unique to you. It’s yet another thing special about you!” She continued on and on as the group got ready to move again. Nic glanced at Sarman in the middle of it. He was putting on a smile, but something about it was bothering Nic.

The feeling continued to gnaw at him as they started back up on their trek. Before long Nic excused himself from Aria’s side and slowed down to match Sarman’s pace. Sarman had been walking behind the group since they had started continuing their walk.

“If we’re being too close, you can just say it, you know?”

“Huh?!” Sarman looked up with a jump as Nic spoke next to him. His face was tinted slightly red. “Why would I need to say that?”

“Well… Seeing us is making you think of Yuuki, isn’t it?” The way Sarman’s face contorted to try to hide his surprise spoke louder than the silence that followed. “Just admit it. You wish that Yuuki was here, treating you in a similar way to how Aria is treating me, right?”

“That’s… that’s not the case…” His words barely managed to get out of his mouth before they disappeared.

Nic mused for a second before responding. He wasn’t sure if Sarman was denying it for the sake of denying it, or if he just didn’t realize his own feelings on the matter.

“Fine. I’ll shut up. But you have to come walk with the rest of us.” Nic pulled Sarman forward and forced him to walk with the three of them. Sarman forced a smile and ended up making it all the way till they set up camp that night.

The next morning, they set out as the sun was rising. The cool morning air was refreshing after the intense heat that had pelted them the second half of the day before.

The pleasantness quickly gave way to even more heat the closer they got to their destination. The sun wasn’t even at its highest point when the walls of the town came into view.

“There it is. The Rad-Town formerly designate S-086. Though its residents all call it ‘Crystalia’.” Rust introduced the town as they approached the entrance to the city.

About 50 mer away from the gate, someone yelled out from the top of the wall.

“Halt! What is your business here?”

“We-” Rust was about to bellow out when he was cut off.

“FIRE!”

A volley of arrows was loosed from the city walls. Each one pointed at the group.