“Why do I feel like this was too easy,” Henderson asked, her eyes back to their normal brown.
“Because you didn’t almost die due to a single magical effect that rendered you practically useless,” Mathew replied as he crossed his arms.
Henderson just looked at Mathew. “Speaking of…how did you get back up so easily? Agnox and I were the only two able to really move.”
“Call it a mix of luck and overcoming personal barriers,” Mathew answered vaguely.
“That makes no sense. Are you saying you somehow leveled up or unlocked a new power?” Henderson asked pushily.
Mathew shrugged, not carrying to answer. The power still flowed through him, but it was starting to wear off.
Once Keith’s effects of his power wore off, everyone was able to get to work. Mathew did see Cherry running around with a medics symbol wrapped around her head. She was going from person to person, healing them, then moving to the next person. Even stopping to heal those captured.
“So, when do you want to march to their city?” Captain Henderson asked. “It’s a long way away, with two empty towns along the way we can camp out at. It would be quicker to take vehicles with all of these people and gear.”
“I want some of our captors questioned,” Mathew replied. “We need to know what we are going up against. Once we have that, we ship ourselves out. Remember, we won’t have the guardians there, so we need to be extra careful.”
“I’ll start getting interrogations going then.” She said, a bit flatly. She watched Mathew for a moment before she decided to head off.
A fight that took less than ten minutes took far longer to clean up after. Mathew was surprised to hear there were no casualties on either side. The healers all did fabulous work healing everyone or keeping them stable enough to get to the hospital.
They had to march the new prisoners. Keith was given the VIP treatment and was driven back to be investigated quickly. Mathew let Henderson take care of that. He didn’t know if the man had another trick up his sleeve that could exploit his weakened soul.
He was secretly upset at himself. If his soul wasn’t damaged, then Keith couldn’t do anything against him. That power would have only slowed him down, not almost gotten him killed. “It will be fine. Agnox showed me it’s possible to repair my soul. I just need to get more bound souls. I just can’t let Doozkora’s power influence me. She has no control over me. Nobody does”
The blue screen that told him he had four souls attached to him and other information came back to his mind. He clenched his hand, remembering the red text.
Fate Marked - Your fate is outside of your control
“Nobody controls me. Not Keith. Not the Elves. Not even The System.” Mathew muttered.
He didn’t know someone was behind him as a voice spoke up. “What was that Mathew?”
Mathew turned to see Lindsey there. “It’s nothing. What do you need?”
“I was just checking in on you. Also Cherry is riding in one of the medical trucks helping keep some people topped up on healing along the ride. She wanted to tell you, but couldn’t step away, so I offered to.”
“Okay, thanks for telling me,” Mathew said, then walked passed her. He got into the driver's side of one of the mana-powered trucks and started it while he waited for Agnox and Jeffery to load up.
Lindsey watched with her hands held together as he drove away. She sighed to herself. Most people were leaving, and she didn’t want to be alone. She started to follow the majority of people, moving silently.
Mathew took the rest of the day to rest. He gained little experience from the fight. Mainly because nobody was killed as well as he didn’t do any fighting at all, all he did was fight and figure out more of the whole picture.
His passive spell [Know Thy Self] told him he had no physical injuries. That meant he could skip visiting Dr. Garcia or anyone else for the day. Mathew needed to destress. He was mentally on edge and his soul was strained from his encounter with Keith.
The ghostly spirit maid that was bound to his home brought him a cup of tea as he relaxed in a warm bath. He waved her off, thinking of making another one, but decided to hold off on it for now. “I will need to wait till that project is finished. Zack and the construction crew better not have messed up any of my requests.”
It took him several minutes to settle and truly relax. The tea was good enough to calm him. He just needed to empty his mind, and just let time tick by. He eventually stopped truly thinking of anything. Not the elves. Not his soul. Not Doozkora, Gaia, Blue Oaks, his family, nothing. He just let it all go going into a mindless state.
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His quiet bath stew lasted for almost an hour before a soft knock on the door rudely interrupted his empty thoughts. “What?” He asked annoyed. The tiled bathroom echoed his voice.
The door opened up a crack for Mathew to see part of Cherry’s face. “Can I come in and talk?”
“If you don’t care that I am wearing nothing and that you are interrupting my bath, then sure.” He said sarcastically.
“Okay,” Cherry said as she walked in and closed the door behind her. Mathew rolled his eyes and sunk lower into the water where only the top half of his face was above the water.
“I want to make sure you were okay. You’ve been under a lot of stress lately, and I just want you to know I’m here to listen if you need it. I know you probably still hate me or think I’m holding you back, but I’m doing my best here. I’m sorry you are still having to pay off my debt plus dragging me around keeping me alive while I’m trying to keep you alive and it’s just a lot.” Cherry continued to ramble on into not complete sentences. Her eyes were not meeting Mathew’s. They were looking down at her hands.
Once she was done, Mathew just let silence fill the air. Somewhat thinking over her words there was one thing that he was confused about. “Cherry, why do you think I hate you?”
“Because you snap at me all the time!” She almost shouted. “You are always angry. The only time you weren’t was the few days we were working on Rituals together. That’s when I started to see more of the real you. The person who is smart and meets a challenge head-on. Do you know what people say about you?”
Mathew sunk back into the water, raising a hand out of the water for her to continue. “I don’t care so long as they aren’t planning to kill me.”
“They ask if you forced me into slavery. They ask if you are working on making some sort of law that forces people to work for you without pay. On the other hand, people are in awe of you. They said you are the world's strongest, regardless of the leaderboard. Someone who goes out and solves problems not starts them. These people are starting to see you as someone they can admire as a leader. Someone in charge who can save them.”
Cherry had a smile come across her face, “Countless people came to Gaia’s shrine today praying for her to protect them. Half of them mentioned your name saying they wish Gaia gave you strength to stop the threats and bring them the safety they once had before The System showed up.”
Mathew rose his head above the water so he could speak. “Did they really say that, or are you trying to make me feel better?”
Cherry got on her knees and looked Mathew in his eyes, “They did. And I think the same thing. Am I baggage to you? Am I here to be part of a team like you and Agnox are? You want me to help you fix your soul, but how can I do that? How can we grow if you and I keep arguing and butting heads and disagreeing on things? A flower does not bloom in an improper environment. How do I grow when I’m on a cold mountaintop when I should be in the warm valley cared for by my mother?”
“Cherry, you are part of the team. Do you think Agnox and I were this close at first?”
She didn’t respond, giving a half-shrug. “Agnox was annoying but always tried to be helpful. He is mischievous with a wild streak. But, he is loyal.” Mathew leaned his head back on the tiled wall closing his eyes. “I only started to trust Agnox after my soul was shattered and he was there risking his life to protect me, even when he thought I was dead. Since the day I saved him from his previous master, he has never given up on me. That is what Agnox is.”
Mathew pointed at Cherry, his eyes still not open, “You are not Agnox. You are too kind and too loving. You have no clue how the real world works, and think you are going to go back to Gaia soon. Cherry, why do you think Gaia gave you to me and not paid off your debt herself? She is a God, do you think the amount of UC you are in debt for is something she can’t afford?”
Cherry blinked, “Well if she could have, she would have!”
Mathew sighed. “I don’t hate you, Cherry. I want you and I to become close like Agnox.” He opened his eyes and looked at her, “I really do. Yes, it’s because I want to become linked to you so my soul can repair more. But, you are not someone I would want to get rid of. If that were the case, I wouldn’t trust you as much as I have. I know you have my back. You are there to heal me as well as Agnox and anyone else who needs your healing powers. Take how you interact with Wispy and Whis as another example of how kind you are. Only you and I know they are more than just disposable summons. There is something more to them. You just lack courage in yourself. So, don’t worry about what other people think about you. That’s what weak-willed people worry about.”
Cherry went to say something, but Mathew held up a finger. “Go relax. Everyone needs to be at their best for the elves. If Keith can make everyone fall to the ground with a single power, what do you think the elves can do? Go. Pray, talk, get laid, eat, sleep, whatever it is that helps you relax. Because once we leave here, we are not coming back unless we defeat them.”
Cherry once again tried to say something but Mathew interrupted her, “Go. I mean it. And this is me being nice about it. I can just unsummon you don’t forget.”
The dryad stood up with her nostrils flared and upset. She went to the door, she hesitated at it for a moment before she opened it up and left with a soft click as the door closed behind her.