“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.

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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.