POV Raizen

I ran through the forest at full speed, as the bushes and trees all looked like a blur due to how fast I was moving. Maybe if it was a regular day, I’d be in the mood to laugh at my own appearance. A now surprisingly large half naked man, in practically skintight leather pants that were cut off at the knee, and a large spear for good measure. I’m sure it was a funny sight.

Though…today wasn’t a regular day.

I was angry.

And I was getting angrier the closer I got to the Outpost. My flames could feel it and I can tell it was feeding off of the anger. It was growing stronger, hotter, and deadlier inside of me. I could instinctually feel that the next time I allowed them to burst forth, the devastation would be vastly different than anything I’ve done before.

And I would welcome it.

With my newfound speed and the determination to match, it wasn’t long before the Outpost was once again in view, and what I saw caused my anger to surge to new heights.

The entire Outpost was surrounded by thousands of Goblins.

That wasn’t the worst of it.

As I got closer, I was just in time to hear a loud crash and when I focused on the gate I saw they had burst through.

It only took a quick scan after that to notice that 4 of the 5 Hobgoblins that should be here were spread out in the mass of Goblins and giving orders. One was missing.

It was at that moment I stopped holding both anger and flames back and let it all out.

“Burn them all.”

There was no need to use my spear or any other medium at this moment. All I needed was me.

A torrent of flames burst out from my body. A loud and raucous explosion sounded the second they came into contact with the ground.

It rapidly surged far and wide and reached the walls of the Outpost then it rose about 20 feet in the air as it created a wall of flames around the Outpost.

I didn’t sit still either.

While anything and everything outside of the Outpost was absolutely covered in my flames, I gripped my spear tightly as I dashed through the now broken gate. It only took a moment to take in everything in front of me.

Around 20ish Goblins, and 1 Hobgoblin were inside the Outpost. While Richard and the others were behind a number of the spiked fences. Though one thing was odd. Nobody was moving. Every single person and Goblin stood frozen, staring towards me with looks of both awe and fear with the latter coming from the Goblins.

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I didn’t dwell on it for too long and a few steps coupled with a few swings of my spear left the ground littered with the bodies of Goblins.

I stood amongst the bodies for a few moments.

The anger that fueled me, quietly dissipating as the flames the burned high around the Outpost followed suit and began to subside.

There was nothing left to burn.

Thousands of Goblins burned to ashes.

Their screams meant nothing to me.

Eventually, all the flames fully subsided and I looked up towards Richard who was looking at me with his mouth open. In fact, all of them were.

Though as I was about to say something, a notification flashed in front of me.

(Outpost G Residents Only)

Defense Successful

The Outpost Shall be Repaired

That was the end of the message, and shortly after it disappeared, the bodies around my feet were then absorbed by the ground. I then heard rustling behind me, and I turned around in time to see the gate and the walls it was attached to being restored in real time.

It was actually quite amazing to see.

It felt as if time was literally being rewound before my eyes. Then all the pieces of the broken gate, from the splintered pieces, to the large ones picked themselves up and returned to the place they were before, and eventually the process was over, and the gate was fixed, as if it was never broken in the first place.

After staring at the gate for a bit I turned back around to the group behind me.

“Is everyone alright?”

They all looked at me again after getting stuck on the magic of the gate repair for a bit. Then it was Micah who spoke up first.

“We’re fine…just fine…”

“Yea what he said...”

Lance followed up right after Micah and I could see everyone finally lower their weapons and relax. Some of them even sat down right where they stood, glad to be alive. I can only imagine the type of stress they faced.

“And you Raizen? Are you fine?”

It was Irene who asked me that, the concern evident in her tone.

“I am. Though we all have a lot to talk about.”

She nodded and took a seat herself, eventually leaning her head back as she stared into the sky with a thoughtful look on her face.

I looked over towards Richard and he was just standing there. Staring at the gate. I walked over and stood next to him for a few moments before speaking.

“How are you Richard?”

“…We could’ve died…”

“You could’ve.”

“We could've died…if you were any slower…we could've all died…all because we were weak. What if you weren’t as strong as you were? What if you weren’t here at all? What if you didn’t feel like helping us? What if…-”

“Richard. No one died today.”

“I know…it’s just..”

“No one died Richard. No one died.”

He didn’t say anything for a while after that. Just staring at the gate. Of course we weren’t far, so the others heard everything we said, yet they all chose to remain silent.

Eventually, minutes passed, and Richard finally started speaking again.

“We have to get stronger. Brandon was right. We are nothing but a burden. What if they send a bigger and stronger force tomorrow? Are we just going to turtle up and hope you arrive just in the nick of time again? That can’t happen Raizen. This can’t continue…”

I let his words linger in the air for a bit. I could tell the others were taking his words to heart. Still, no one else was speaking.

“I have never called you all a burden Richard. You know...what I’m about to say next feels corny, but I need to say it. I’ve only known you all for a short time, not even a month, but we have joked, ate, fought, and bled together during this time. This feeling I have is new to me, but it feels natural. You all are my people. I am going to protect my people. The burden I carry was placed there by myself. Honestly it really does feel weird to say that, considering just a few weeks ago I was a college student, but things sometimes change both very quickly and drastically.

“Of course, no one could’ve predicted the apocalypse happening and being thrusted into a Tutorial to fend for our lives, but here we are.

“I'm kind of rambling now, but focus on getting stronger Richard. I will handle the rest.”

I patted Richard on his shoulder and walked off towards the shop.

I needed new pants.