"It's finally over..." Weed whispered as he collapsed back into Richard's arms.
There was a long awkward silence as Weed rested letting his HP replenish marginally thanks to the lasting effects of the revival nectar. Weed could see Richard was not happy with the outcome. ‘Maybe, I played out a scenario too different from the one expected…or maybe I was just too weak for the quest…either way I am relieved this is finally over…’
“Weed…” Richard finally spoke seeing the color return to Weed’s face.
Weed looked at Richard. He wondered if Richard would be thankful or angry with him.
“What happened?” Richard ask.
“…” Weed wasn’t sure what Richard was talking about.
“What happened to Arthur?” Richard asked, his face was white as sheet.
The reaction was one which Weed least expected; grief.
“I killed him.” Weed answered. Weed wasn’t sure where this conversation was headed, he was too taken aback with Richard’s emotional reaction.
“…How?” Richard asked as he raised his voice. “How did you kill him when I couldn’t? How did you kill him despite no matter how many times I pounded him into the earth he got up….yes with a single strike of yours you decimated him….HOW?”
Weed grew uneasy. Richard looked like he was bordering lunatic; gone crazy when overcome with extreme grief.
“Well you saw it…didn’t you? I had gun powder on me…I just lit him up…” Weed tried to defend himself.
“YES! I saw it all! But I don’t understand it…Arthur was incredibly strong I was barely able to keep up with him yet you destroyed his scarred his body beyond recognition…” Richard’s voice hinted anger, though Weed could not understand whether it was directed towards him or ‘himself’(Richard).
“Wind affinity’s weakness is fire and I added metal shrapnel into the keg..” Weed hastened his reply seeing Richard restless “…so we should not be surprised if it did some serious damage furthermore you must have also weakened him…kkhhh.” Weed choked as he struggled to complete the sentence. Richard pressed his elbow into Weed’s neck. “The d…dr….aaaa…ft..” Weed squeaked as Richard loosened his grip.
“The draft?” Richard asked.
“The backdraft...” Weed explained as he rubbed his neck where Richard had pressed. “When the fire exploded it ate up all the oxygen and pulled the wind defense barrier inwards…so instead of defending him it became his tomb.”
Richard stepped back as he took time to process what Weed was saying. “What is this oxygen?”
The question caught Weed off guard. He didn’t think that the NPC wouldn’t know what oxygen is. ‘Interesting…’ Weed thought to himself. ‘Although the physical science rules are nearly the same as the real world, the NPC’s have no knowledge about these things…or at least Richard didn’t.’
Richard looked at Weed for answers.
“I am explaining give me a moment here, I just practically came back from the dead here.” Weed sat up straight and began drawing on the ground with his finger. “The air you know can be divided into three broad parts…Nitrogen, Oxygen and other gases. Oxygen is essential for life and fire…hence when the fire from the canister suddenly came into contact with the wind defense barrier which was essentially manipulation of air at very high speeds it exploded which caused the oxygen to be used up and sucked the barrier inwards. In addition to this the fire and oxygen burnt to create many poisonous gases which may have added to the suffocation…”
“I have never heard of anything like this…” Richard said as he loosened up and sat back leaning against rubble.
Weed’s mind was exploding with ideas. Since the game had been so life like and Weed’s previous attempt to make glass worked on the same principles of chemistry like the real world, Weed just simply assumed that it would hold true for all other chemistry relations… ‘No…I didn’t just assume it was going to hold true, I also assumed that this was common knowledge amongst NPCs…’ Weed was smiling in his mind, although NPCs have far greater knowledge about the Versailles continent but when it came to science they were still lagging behind. ‘I could use this to my advantage…’
Weed’s thoughts were interrupted with drops of water falling on his head. As Weed turned to look up it began to pour like crazy. ‘Great’ Weed thought as he was drenched in the rain.
Richard didn’t seem to be minding the rain. He in fact looked glad that it was raining. He could hide his tears in the midst of the rain.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Weed could not tell whether Richard was crying or not but the grief was evident. Weed had an acute sense of what Richard was feeling. Richard and Arthur had been close friends for over two hundred years…Arthur was possibly Richard’s last connection to his distant past. ‘Richard must be feeling alienated now that Arthur is gone…’ Weed thought to himself as he wondered if there was anything that he could say to make Richard feel better. Although an NPC the grief emphasized by the NPC’s face begged for sympathy. However, Weed had none to offer he was after all the killer of his friend and retainer.
The pitter patter of the rain was all that could be heard. Weed was keeping a close eye on his HP, it had moved from the red and into the green. He was sure he had died but the revival potion Richard gave him brought him back from the brink of death. Now that neither of them had anything to do, Weed was waiting for a message box to pop up and say that he was a hero while monitoring the length of the potions effect. ‘I guess I’ll only receive some kind of reward for saving Lavias after Richard recovers from his grief…or maybe I am the one who has to pull him out of his grief…’ Weed didn’t like the waiting part. He didn’t like getting wet either. However, neither one of them had the energy to move around aimlessly.
As Weed examined Richard’s facial features and arbitrarily began mapping the rendering of the artist, he noticed Richard’s eyes were fixated into the distance. The grief was all but gone and there was a shine in his eyes. A sudden thought flashed across Weed’s mind. ‘Bloody hell…’
Weed quickly stood up and grabbed Richard by the arm. Richard was slightly perplexed and refused to move.
“What are you doing?” Richard asked, refusing to budge from his spot.
“Saving your life!” Weed cried as he pulled Richard.
“I have things under control!” Richard replied.
“Yeah I can see that! That thing there is not Arthur, it is a monster.” Weed replied growing irritated. “You gave him some of that revival potion too, didn’t you?” Weed asked as he tightened his grip around Richard’s wrist.
“…” Richard didn’t reply.
“Damn me!” Weed screamed as he turned to look at the corpse. It was still charred and back but there were minute signs of healing. The heal rate was very slow but it was happening. Weed had been monitoring his own recovery so he knew exactly how much time they had till Arthur’s body was in a conscious state. “I should have known better when I say the vial…bloody thing was half empty…”
Weed began looking around frantically for anything he could use to stab Arthur’s unconscious body and kill him. “I should have bloody well checked whether he was dead…”
At some point, Richard caught on to what Weed was looking for and grabbed Weed up by the neck nearly choking him.
“He is my younger brother.”
The words echoed in Weed’s head for a good whole minute. Weed was beyond shocked. ‘They are brothers?’ Weed tried to wrap his mind against the fact. He found it difficult to accept given the nature of their relationship…
“Listen, we can’t save him…I don’t know when that body opens its eyes who will it be. It could be Arthur or Shadow. The chances are it’s going to be Shadow. So put me down and think of a way of saving him and if you can’t think of one then we need to escape. As you are you are of no match to Arthur. He wins hands down.” Weed reasoned with Richard. At this point expecting Richard to kill his own brother was out of the question. Richard put Weed down and turned to look at Arthur’s body. It seemed to be recovering a little more rapidly with skin appearing in patches. The smell of burnt skin had long dissipated.
Weed tore a bit of his tattered skirt and used the cloth to wipe off dried bloody from Richard’s forehead. Weed’s actions made Richard blush for a moment.
“We need to go.” Weed emphasized.
Richard was still hesitating. “What if there was a way to save him?” He asked hesitatingly.
Weed paused for a moment to think where Richard was headed with this. “The dragon baldes?”
“Yes…I have them in my possession…” Richard confessed.
Before Weed could say anything a voice from behind the two lifelessly whispered, “Give….me…the dragon blades…”
Weed’s face was covered in dread.