CANYON RUSH

The road back to the closest village was long and silent, aside from the continuous assault from the skeletal ghouls attracted by Theo’s arms. The group handled those well as Theo was not holding back anymore, and Hamon had much more experience compared to when they first arrived. Occasionally, Hamon would also grumble to himself about how annoying it was that the skeletal ghouls were not even giving a single experience point anymore.

Hamon felt the others were too weak, even when they were also level four. He had been solely around Theo for far too long. No monsters proved much a challenge to Theo, and Hamon started thinking that was the norm; that he was just not good enough. Now he knew different. It wasn’t that he was weak, Theo was just too strong. Heck, even I am stronger than those people. Hamon thought of their last fight before leaving the cursed lands.

The village they got to was larger than the usual ones. It was built by the side of a long and humongous rock wall.

Arriving at the village heightened the rescued duo spirits. “Hey! Come in, we will show you around. You have never been here before, right?”

With a nod from Theo, they walked towards the village. Different from the usual one, this village was packed with people, most strolling and talking in a light mood. They walked to the largest building there was. It was a mix from an old tavern and an inn, with a lion sign hanging by the entrance. The insides were full of people talking and drinking.

“You guys arrived too late. Most houses are already occupied.” The man hurried up to the balcony. “Hey, Jim! We are back! Won’t you find some room for my friends here?”

“Raji? You alive?” Jim climbed over the balcony and gave Raji a big hug. “You just won me some nice coin, my friend.” Raji looked him over with suspicion, “obviously that’s just a detail.” and Jim laughed. “I knew that if someone was to come back alive from the death zone, it would be you.”

Raji laughed with embarrassment. “Things weren’t so easy, Jim.” He turned to Theo and Hamon, who were waiting by the side. “It’s only thanks to those two that I could come back alive.” Raji shook his head. “The others didn’t make it.”

“I see…” Jim nodded. “Thanks to you to my friends.” Jim went to shake their hands but looked at Theo’s arms, black and charred. “Sorry for… that.” Theo shook his head, signaling it wasn’t a problem, and Jim continued. “I will see what I can do. It’s a loss for those three dying.” He eyed the other surviving woman. “Especially when the two-timer managed to survive.”

Jim received a glare from the woman as Raji tried to mediate. Theo and Hamon got tired of their banter and went upstairs to grab a room.

“What do you think this canyon pass is about?” Hamon asked as he lay down on the bed.

“Did you overhear someone talking? It has probably something to do with the rock wall.” Theo looked out of the window. “Help me out with those bandages here,” he pointed to his backpack with his head, “tie my arms on my back, or they will keep getting in the way.” Hamon could finally show off the bandaging skills his mother had taught him in the past. Theo seemed to also like his work since he didn’t complain. “Why don’t you go take a stroll through the village? I will test out my rituals, it will get boring fast.”

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Hamon took his word on that and soon got downstairs. Ritual testing did get boring fast. Hamon regretted not agreeing to leave last time. Jim was serving some people by the balcony, and there was a group of men arm wrestling.

“Hey, can I join you guys?” Hamon asked one of them.

“Woah, the kid thinks himself as strong?” Said the last winner.

“Afraid of losing to the kid?” A man by his side taunted. “Do you think looks matter anymore?” He put Hamon on the seat. “Go, kid, go.”

“Come on, kid. Let’s get over with it.” The man put his arm on the table as the others started taunting and throwing curses.

Hamon joined in, and it was a total crushing victory. He was a bit surprised but soon got over it and started smiling as everyone began cheering for him. The men called it a day at the bar and went out to have some fun, Hamon with them.

There wasn’t much to do at the village, so past time for their kind mostly involved drinking, brawling and games like ‘who could leave a bigger hole in a tree with a punch’. They spent an hour or two together. Hamon really liked the taste of whatever they were drinking. However, he really went too hard on this ‘maid’s kiss’, as they called it. Hamon’s steps were getting wobbly, and his vision wavering. He didn’t think he would get actually drunk due to his body’s enhanced physique, what it served for otherwise? Not that he complained for much longer, everything seemed much more fun and colorful.

When he next came to himself, he didn’t remember much of what had occurred, just some random flashes of rock-throwing competition and tree felling bulldozering. Hamon looked around to see an alley on the village between two houses that ended up in a dead-end. He was surrounded by people he probably met along the way but couldn’t put their faces to mind, his head was hurting too much.

Oh no… That’s bad. Hamon didn’t live a sheltered life but couldn’t do much as he passed out and puked on the ground. He didn’t have many opportunities to go drinking before, neither before or after the abyss.

The next time he woke up, Theo was screaming to himself. “Why does the space for a circle doesn’t accept a circle!” Theo’s hair was a rat’s nest. “It doesn’t make sense. It should be exploding. Two explosions, not just one!” He threw a tantrum and tried to burn one of the shining rituals on the ground with his stare, getting real close with his face. “And you! Naughty little piece of shit. Why don’t you obey my will!” Theo screamed as he bobbed his body in anger.

All that screaming and noise only made his head hurt much more, but at least now he could think properly… maybe.

Hamon spent some time just watching Theo work but was interrupted as Theo threw himself back and caught a glimpse of him peeking. “Oh, hey, Hamon. Nice day ain’t it? Had fun?” Theo smirked

What ensued was an awkward confession of what happened today, or at least what Hamon remembered of it. Things went more smoothly than Hamon expected. He didn’t receive scoldings, beatings, or anything of the like. Theo just reminded him to be more careful and pointed out where things started looking sketchy.

Theo saw the face Hamon made, looking down, meek with arms crossed. How he was almost expecting some reproach. “Hey man, relax.” Hamon looked up to him. “I’m not your father. Actually, even if I was.” Theo touched his forehead with Hamon’s. “We are in the abyss, you can mess up a bit if that means you learn and grow. Just… just take care and don’t mess up with permanent consequences.” Theo smiled.

Left unsaid that he would never let Hamon wander around somewhere he couldn’t take care of himself unsupervised. Theo was much more paranoid than he let others find out. Part of his training was keeping track of Hamon’s day off at all times using the sensing earring from afar. It enabled him to test for how long he could use the artifact with his current mana regeneration. Theo couldn’t wait to compile and do tests properly when he arrived in a real town. However, that was better not said for now.