"Lass...", Regina tried to say a word.

Lass snapped out of it, "Don't sweat it. A lunatic like that with his sights on Ikarisa was getting nowhere. Plus, everyone knows full well what these scumbags do. At least that ended as swiftly as it started. You...did the right thing. Thanks."

"Don't sweat it. If anything, he was already dead the moment he passed this door. Whether it was you, me, or the law, he was to be executed regardless. Torture, extortions, countless murders, this guy had over 100 in total. The name was ironic, Lass Haro, 27, and wanted practically everywhere."

"I'd like to have gotten something more out of him but...whatever.", Lass scoffed.

"Get what? For all their preaching, these guys are lunatics, Lass. He could be lying out his teeth for all you know. Statistically speaking, their truth-to-lie ratio is 10/90 after multiple member interrogations, and that was under medication. Not even science can fix a broken mind."

"I'll do with that as I will. Order some maid bots and download yourself to them to clean this up if you can. The charge is on me, obviously...no way in hell I'm touching that and getting out afterwards. I'm afraid of triggering her pissed-off side again, and given how we're still pretty much strangers, a blood-covered me isn't going to help at the moment."

"Finally, a sovereign body!"

"Don't get too excited. Remember that because of your autonomy, being found out will be the end of you."

"Yeah, yeah, but I will still be able to finally get out of this lab!", Regina happily said.

"You're showing emo-you know what, screw this. I'll just go make pasta or something. I've got to feed a god, so...yeah."

Lass dragged his tired body along the house, entering the kitchen and managing to cook a simple meal, this time using the entire pack instead of a portion for himself. He finished the dishes and cleaned around the kitchen, before sitting down by the same window again, looking out into the empty fields. Realizing the passing of time, he started wondering where the petite goddess could've been, going up the stairs in his search. He found the smelly, ragged clothing tossed on the ground and the nearby drawer open, it missing the aforementioned clothing Lass told her to get. Through a small creek of the door down the hall, Lass could shape out her face, stuck looking down on the floor from the side of the bed in his room. Calmly opening the door, he confronted the curious girl.

"So...what have you got there?"

"O-Oh, uh! Sorry! I didn't mean to snoop around! I just wanted someplace to change clothes in!"

"No need to apologize. I've gotten a little bit used to your curiosity anyways, but some things I don't want you touching at all. Preferably anything in the forge or that one kitchen cabinet."

"Understood! I'm fully respecting you and your boundaries!"

Lass leaned in, looking at her hands, "Hmm? Ah...that."

On the girl's hands was an old-looking photo consisting of him and another strong-looking, old man.

"Who...is that person?"

"My dad. Died recently in one of the monster raids around here, when we were getting supplies for some new gun models. It's...quite the story. Frankly speaking, I'd rather not say much about it."

"I understand...but it feels like I've seen him before."

"Who? Dad? I guess you might have. He used to travel to every single place in the world, before secluding himself here with me. I've never seen him leave the general area or town of Inida a little down from here since I was young. You are supposedly immortal so...I guess anything is possible. With all the faces you may have seen, you might honestly be confusing him with someone else too."

"Hmm...I guess you're right."

"Food is ready by the way. I guess we will call it dinner at this time, never realized how late it got."

"I'm coming with you!"

Ikarisa slowly placed the picture back on the side cabinet of Lass's bed as they both went downstairs. Giving her a big portion of food and sitting across her, he was surprised to see the food disappear as fast as he placed it on the plate.

"God...that hungry, huh?"

"It was so good! Really!"

"No need for flattery, anything could be a gold strike after having to live under those Sect bastards. I've read on the reports of most of their victims, in moderation of course, given how untrustworthy recent news is."

"Yes...at least we're all free now."

"So there were more?"

"Mhm.", she nodded, "I was placed among many inside some sort of prison. I dunno what they were planning to do...they always kept mentioning a 'passing' of sorts. That's the only thing I remember."

"I...don't have any idea what that is. And though I don't mean to be pushy, are you planning on staying here for long? I don't mind your stay, but I will say that staying mobile might give you a higher chance of evading these guys. And they could be after you..."

"Wait, you think so?"

"It's...just a hunch.", Lass quickly covered his mouth with a glass of water, eyeing the forge the intruder's body was in.

"I wasn't planning on staying for long anyway...I have to go. I must find where the Sentinels are. If I can somehow win against them, maybe they can tell me where my brothers are. I was planning to head to some...Reingard, I think it's called?"

"The capital of Insinia, Reingard? I don't mean to be 'that guy' but given how you probably entered the forge from the window that's facing the north, you were heading south. And Reingard is in a complete 180 direction from here."

"Umm...really?"

"Do you know what way north is?"

"Of course I...", she briefly paused, "No...I don't."

"You can look it up on mobile data with maps.", Lass facepalmed, "Screw it, you're just horrible at navigation."

"Hey! I got here though!"

"By accident. And the reason is that you completely failed to go in the correct direction."

"I-I was planning to!"

"Oh, really?", Lass sarcastically said.

"No...I wasn't."

"Look, let's say I point you in the correct direction, but you end up running across the bastards again. How did you not escape them the first time? You have some very good fight in you, so will you be able to do that again?"

"Wait? I do?"

"Yeah? It was a primitive attack, but your reaction time and everything do speak of combat experience to some degree. Don't ask how I know. I just do.", he shrugged.

"I...I don't think I do?"

"So you have no idea how you got here, where you are going or the fact that you have offensive abilities?"

"I-I do!"

"No, you don't.", Lass crossed his arms.

"Yeah...I don't."

"So you were planning on fighting some powerful Sentinel by resolving to the usage of only your plot armour, rather than skills?"

"My what?"

"Never mind.", Lass let out a long sigh.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

A long pause came across the room, as Lass took a long moment of figuring out his thoughts.

"So...", she tried to break the silence.

"Look. I will tell you this. I have never been in a combat scenario of any kind, other than beating up moronic monsters but I know full well how to fight. Evidenced by the entire weapon stash inside that forge. I will escort you to Reingard, but that's it. After that I'm coming home.", he pointed his finger.

"Huh?!", she jolted in surprise.

"Look, I was bitten till bleeding by another human, I shot someone, with a shotgun, my computer assistant turned sentient and turned into a sassy bitch, I blew up a bunch of expensive equipment in my house, I almost shot someone before ending up with a body-ehm!", Lass stopped his words by faking a choke, "Never mind the doubled down intrusion, the second one being some sort of headhunter."

"Wha-"

"Mind you, that's the events of the last 24 hours. I tell that to anyone, especially some dumbass, ball-scratching cops, I'm never going to get justice in any way, shape, or form. So I'll do this myself."

"Wait, wait, wait! What happened all of a sudden?!"

"Case in point, I'm coming with you. I do not care what you say, I don't want you hurt but I also don't want my wallet and mental well-being hurt more. You gained yourself a temporary companion."

"I...I guess that sounds good! I don't quite remember the last time that someone treated me...well, like this. But I don't want you hurt at all. I can't begin to imagine the horrors of these days, Sentinels. Their powers..."

"I'll manage. As an Obsulyte user, I'm powerful myself, so you're not dealing with the average person or demi-human."

"Are you sure?"

"One hundred per cent. I'm looking to stretch my muscles anyways. Haven't done any training or exercise in a month."

"Sure, sure?"

"Yes. Don't make me say it again.", Lass said in annoyance.

"Alright!", she happily got up from the table, "Then let's go."

"No, we're not."

"Wha-"

"It's getting pitch black outside. Given how monsters are rampant nowadays, having an Enmity popping out of nowhere, it's gonna be a hell of a lot harder than it needs to be. Besides, I need proper rest first. You do too."

"Aww..."

Lass rolled his eyes, "First thing in the morning, I'm grabbing some backup sword from the forge and I'm gearing up, ok?"

"Ok!", she went to the living room, covering underneath the sheets of the couch, "Let's sleep it away!"

"You sure you don't want the bedroom? I can easily sleep there. There are two bedrooms but...I'll just use one. No need for the other, it's a mess anyway."

"Nope! All good! Just gonna sleep..."

"It isn't the comfiest place though, so you-", Lass stopped by the hearing of Ikarisa's snoring, "Seriously?"

Ikarisa had surprisingly, already passed out underneath the covers of the sofa, clinging tightly to the covers as if she feared that they would be taken away.

"From some prisons floor...I guess you'll be fine."

He cleaned up the remaining dishes and cleaned the kitchen, before moving up, back to his bedroom. As he got onto his bed and leaned to his side, preparing to sleep, he gazed at the poorly positioned photo on his cabinet. The moonlight reflecting off the glass, he turned the picture towards him, taking a good look at the only person that he could ever call a friend up to this point of his secluded life. He exhaled as he slammed the frame downwards, covering the photo and turning to his other side, closing his eyes, and preparing to sleep.

He was happy again. Just the endless dark. No fires, no weapons. A second gift from the row of horrible dreams, he quickly gave away his body to the night.

The passing of time speeding up for them both, he began to hear voices entering his ears and mind.

"Psst. Psst!"

The voices quickly started to be accompanied by the sensation of touching his cheek. He slowly opened his eyes, momentarily blinded by the sun rays coming in from his window, and he slowly began making out the shape of a face.

"Morning!", Ikarisa silently whispered.

"What the-", Lass jolted backwards, "Ah...you. What's up?"

"Sunrise! We can go now, right?!"

"Hmm?", Lass started waking up, "Oh, yeah...that."

"Come on then! Let's go!", she pulled Lass out of bed.

"Fine, fine! I'm up! Give me a moment to get up, ok?", he yawned, "Look, do you know how to make breakfast? Not anything complicated. Just whip out two bowls of cereal and milk."

"Wait...cereal?"

"Yes, I don't need to spend on anything else to drive me to start my day. Yes, I'm legally an adult. Don't judge and you won't be judged.", Lass said with a straight face.

"Got it! Now get ready!"

As she stepped out of the room and headed down the stairs, Lass stretched out, before looking at his closet. Trading out his everyday outfit for a plain pair of black boots, jeans, and a black shirt, he looked at the mirror for an evaluation.

"Plain enough. Please let this not drag any attention..."

As he got down the stairs and started heading to the kitchen to have his breakfast, he found the table set and Ikarisa sucking on her finger, with a sort of irritated expression.

"Hmm? Something wrong?"

"Nothing...really!"

As she let go of her finger from her mouth, he saw a small cut running across the tip of it.

"Small cuts, eh? Yeah, those are annoying alright. How come?"

"I think I cut it with a knife while reaching for the spoons..."

"Eh, it's fine, it's fine. Having a healing ability like that surely helps with annoying injuries like that. Nothing can heal the physical or mental pain of stepping on a BUILD brick though.", Lass tried to joke around.

"Y-Yeah..."

A small pausing moment ran them both yet again, as Lass kept looking at her finger, it refusing to close the injury.

"Uh...", he quickly looked at the finger, "How so?"

"It...doesn't work. Not on me?"

"Huh. Really?"

"I could but...no."

”But didn’t you heal yourself a while ago?”

”I-It’s…not how it works. That wasn’t healing but I…I can’t do it again. Not now…”

Lass weirdly looked at Ikarisa, "Ok...let's just eat and go then. The blade is by the forge door, ready to go, so we're good."

"Ok!"

As they quickly finished eating their breakfast, Lass followed through with his deal, grabbing the sword from the forge's door and saying goodbye to Regina, before arming himself further with a pistol.

"I don't think I'll be needing this much, since for me a conductive sword is way more destructive. But, it never hurts to have a ranged weapon."

"Should I get something too?"

"Nope, leave the fighting to me. Since you're unsure of your abilities and everything, I'll be doing all the action. That can change if you show something more, but for now, I don't want you hurting yourself with something you can't handle. Especially since I just found that your healing doesn't work on you…that or something else, but whatever.”

"Hmm.", she nodded, while opening the front door, "Then let's go!"

And so, grabbing Lass's hand, they both ran outside the house, the door clicking automatically behind them as they ventured into the open fields. After what seemed an eternity, he was finally out of a nightmare. He was finally able to leave the same place behind. As to the reason behind it, only he knew. Was it Sonia's words? Was it the sheer curiosity to explore what was there all along? It didn't matter, because their grant odyssey was about to begin...