CHAPTER 32 - REMINISCENCE (SEASON FINALE)

I woke up with a start in the dying glow of the campfire. Panting, I looked around, relieved to see my hands, as clammy as they were. A loud snore broke my thoughts and I let out a chuckle as I watched Rarq’s muscular body rise and fall methodically. I hadn’t taken him as a snorer.

Groaning softly, I placed a hand to my forehead, my mind drifting back to the dream- no, nightmare. The glowing figure… Who was he? I doubted I’d seen him before. He’d talked. Not just scattered words, but full sentences which had been directed to me. I recalled his words.

He had a proposition for me. If I wanted to see… Cherry!

The realization hit me like a charging boar.

Cherry.

Was I delusional? That was the strangest dream I’d had up to date. But it was still a dream. And dreams couldn’t possibly be real.

I clutched my chest, the absence of a heart pumping all too obvious.

Head muddled by the death of Cherry, the dream, and an incessant itch along my spine, I crawled off the thin blanket I lay on and stepped onto the sand. This was my first time sleeping as a human after I’d been turned into a potato. It was also the first time I’d slept on a blanket on sand.

The former of which I would’ve enjoyed immensely more.

If someone had told me I’d be sleeping like a peasant four months ago, I’d have called them out of their minds. Now, after being surrounded by a horde of risk-taking psychopaths and going through a series of incredibly close-death experiences, this was nothing out of the ordinary.

There was a small stream nearby, where I headed to wash the sweat off my body and calm down. The sand rubbed between my toes as I walked, cool and grainy. Something howled in the distance, and I stiffened.

Tonight- and the past three nights- Kearan was still recovering, causing him to be unable to put up the barrier that deterred monsters from coming near us. Thus, they had come to the agreement that someone would keep watch at all times. As battered as the Haven guild were, I doubted most creatures were incapable of even harming them.

Most.

As I returned to the campfire where the ten figures lay peacefully sleeping… wait. Ten? Edith, Jay, Rarq, Raul, Mox, Lena, Winter, Verity, Fern… Kearan? I watched a sliver of droll slowly creep out of the corner of his mouth.

Wasn’t he supposed to be keeping watch? And if he wasn’t, then who was?

I found my answer quickly. No one.

“So unprofessional.” I grumbled and sighed, contemplating what to do.

Kearan leant against a tree, every few seconds shifting around uncomfortably. My first instinct was to wake him up, but now that I was looking at his peaceful, drooping face, I hesitated. As strong and powerful as he was, he was still a child- a teenager at most. He’d been through a lot and was still trying to protect his family.

And whether it was because of the recent loss of my own child and the regrets I held deep in my heart, or just after having spent so much time with him, I sympathized.

Just this once, just this one night, I would push away my pride.

Careful not to wake anyone up, I tiptoed to where my blanket lay and brought it over to the sleeping boy, sliding it over his body and tucking it above his shoulders.

Yawning softly, I plonked myself down onto the sand and leant against a nearby tree, staring into the campfire. I estimated another few hours until the sun began to rise.

Great. Plenty of time for me to sort out my thoughts.

And the system, which I hadn’t activated since killing Elric, the tomato.

“Status.” I whispered.

The text appeared, adapting to the darkness by glowing. It was slightly foreign to me, with so many new changes that at first, I doubted it was my own profile.

___________________________________________

Winston June

Title: The Hero (Stage 2)

Race: Ascended Potato

Path: Path to Potato Godhood

Faith: 398

Xera: 200/200

Path Skills:

* [Divine Being] (Passive) {Maxed}

* [Xera Transfer] (Active) {5/10}

* [Potato God’s Eye] (Passive) {Maxed}

L’Der Skills:

* [Set Quest] (Active) {N/A}

Race Skills:

* [Germinate] (Active) {7/30}

* [Potato Battery] (Passive) {9/40}

* [Potato Body] (Active) {3/20}

* [Hull] (Active) {2/10}

Misc. Skills:

* [Mind Speech] (Active) {14/20}

* [Potato God’s Hand] (Active) {Maxed}

* [Perceive Domain] (Passive) {2/35}

* [Mutation] (Active) {4/15}

* [Transfer Consciousness] (Active) {1/10}

[20 Skill Points Available]

[2 Instant Evolution Available]

___________________________________________

The very first thing I noticed was the ridiculous amount of faith I had accumulated. It surpassed the previous milestone of two hundred easily, which probably explained why my title was ‘The Hero (Stage 2)’ instead of just stage one.

Apart from that, I also made out some sort of trend with some of my skills. I recently acquired a miscellaneous skill called ‘Potato God’s Hand’, which seemed to pair with ‘Potato God’s Eye’. Now that got me thinking. Were there other ‘Potato God’s etc’ skills? Did these come from a real potato god? Who was this so-called potato god?

“Ahhh… This is making my head hurt.” I sighed and scratched my forearms ferociously before slumping down even further. Even after the dip in the stream, I didn’t feel refreshed. I simply felt hot and itchy and annoyed.

“Deactivate potato body.”

My vision flickered and before I knew it, I was back in my potato body, encased in darkness. Feeling claustrophobic, I quickly used ‘Potato God’s Hand’ to tear away the flesh that clung to my skin and push myself out of the sticky prison.

I burst out of my human body’s chest, the sudden change of perspective causing the world to spin for a while. A few hours I’d been in my human body. Now, when I’d returned to my natural state, I felt energetic. Alive.

After relishing in this feeling for a few minutes, I snuggled myself into the sand and tried not to watch my human body decompose.

The Maker… or whatever his name was. Who was he? In that dream, he’d quelled the void magic with a wave of his hand, while I had been unable to do anything. Was that a sign that he was stronger? Could I really see Cherry again? Who was his servant?

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Once again, I had burning questions that I couldn’t answer.

Bored and depressed, I decided to do something I hadn’t done for a while now.

‘Germinate.’

The intense pain helped to clear my thoughts, but as the little seed protruded out of my butt, I couldn’t help but be reminded of her.

‘Cherry… I’m sorry. I should’ve been a better father. A better person.’ I looked down, picturing her round pink shape, always bouncing around with energy. ‘I was jealous. Immature.’

Saying all this out loud made me feel even worse. What good would it do? It wouldn’t bring her back, and she wouldn’t want me to be sulking around like this, anyways.

‘Move on, papa.’ I imagined her saying.

I was right. I needed to move on. It wouldn’t do to be stuck in this pit of sadness.

I had other priorities, other commitments that I needed to complete. I needed my position back. I needed to return to my old body. And now, on top of all that, I had a family. A family that needed me.

She wouldn’t be the only child I’d have. If I continued to produce more e-potatoes, eventually, another would become sentient.

Even so, I couldn’t just pretend she never existed.

‘My next child… I’ll make it up to them how I failed to treat you.’ I vowed. ‘I’ll give them all my attention and guide them into becoming the best potato possible. And I’ll protect them. I won’t let anything touch them.’

For me to do that, I would need to become stronger.

I scoffed.

It looked like I was going to become that potato god now, after all.

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The morning arrived before long and after a breakfast of roasted potatoes, we began the ride to the meeting point. It was awkward. Very awkward. Without Cherry’s usual boldness, the group lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. Rarq doubled onto Kearan’s horse, while Lena had to triple with Verity and Winter, while Fern had it even worse with Raul and Mox. The only reason why Jay and Edith didn’t have to share was because no one would fit. Their poor horse’s back was about to break just from the two of their weights combined. Well, mostly Edith’s.

Thus, progress was slow and the sun didn’t help. It bore down on us without mercy, causing the horses to trudge even slower than they normally would.

We rode in silence. Not awkward silence, but comfortable silence. All of us were tired- even shocked from the past few days’ events. After being with the Haven guild for so long, I realised I’d begun to believe that nothing could touch them.

But boy, had I been wrong. The highwaymen, Lando in particular, had been ridiculously strong. To top it all off, Kearan had suddenly fallen sick, putting him completely out of the fight. It was scary how fast it was for someone so strong to become so weak.

As we rode, I peeked out of the saddle bag at Mox. With all the crazy events that were happening at the same time, I almost forgot what he’d said to me before leaving.

“Thank you, my lord, Winston Sepera June, Baron of Agridia.”

Somehow, he knew my identity. How? I had no idea. The only time I’d accidentally leaked it out was when I’d first become a potato, and Mox hadn’t even been there at the time. He’d also called me by my full name. Not just Winston Sepera, my official title, but he’d included June in there, the name only my close friends or servants would call me by.

Had he told anyone else? Why had he decided to tell me right then? And the most important question; If he knew, why hadn’t he acted?

I knew how much they all hated me. Especially Kearan. Whenever he spoke about the baron- any baron, his eyes would flash with anger and his fists would clench up.

I hadn’t had a chance to speak to Mox one on one yet. But so far, he acted as if everything was normal. However, I knew one thing for sure. I couldn’t let him tell Kearan.

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We arrived at the meeting spot right on time. It was a couple hours before noon, but the sun was already high in the sky. The ground was no longer sand but a grassy clearing on a hill. As Kearan scouted out the area for a spot to set up the gate, the rest of us searched around for any stray monsters that might interrupt his spell. There were a few deers and other animals, but thankfully, no monsters.

“Everyone, it’s time!” Kearan called, kneeling at the top of the hill. Purple sparks flew as he snapped his fingers again and again, like he was trying to start some kind of fire.

We all rushed over to him, me in Winter’s pants pocket, bringing along the horses. After this, just like last time, the Haven guild put their hands on his shoulders and body, ready to channel the xera into him. I hopped out of Winter’s pocket, ready to help too, when a pale hand blocked my way.

“Wait.”

I looked up to see an older woman with long grey hair standing over me. “Can you sit out this time, June?”

Everyone looked at me expectantly.

‘Uh, sure?’ I replied hesitantly. ‘Did I do something wrong?’ I felt like I’d been caught stealing red handed.

“Oh, no, no. Don’t get the wrong idea.” Lena laughed, a smile breaking out across her face. “I just want to test something out.”

“Ok…” I said dumbly. I didn’t understand what was going on, but if they didn’t need my help, then so be it. But before moving away, I caught Kearan’s eye. He seemed just as confused as I was.

Bored, I activated xera vision and watched them open the gate without me.

I always found it fascinating how the circuits in Kearan’s body expanded and pulsed as he began the workings of a spell. As his spotted white core was slowly drained by the circuits, the xera flowing to his hands, it was refilled by the several people making contact with his body. The xera turned dark bluish- almost purple and seemed to fill up some invisible ring in front of them, tall enough for us to walk through without trouble and three people wide. The ring was faint at first, but as more and more xera was channelled into it, the border became clearer and darkness began to seep out from the hole in it.

‘Xera vision, deactivate.’

Now that my sight was restored back to normal, I floated closer to the gate. Last time I travelled through a gate, it hadn’t seemed any different than walking through a regular door. But now, I could sense the power of the spell without even having to go through it. It possessed an aura that was cold. And dangerous.

Wiping the sweat off of his forehead and neck, Kearan stood up and walked around the gate, examining his work. “It’ll do.” He affirmed.

I observed him carefully. He wasn’t coughing out blood or ready to collapse like last time, thankfully. Or he might’ve just been really good at hiding it. I doubted it was the latter.

I wasn’t the only one who was concerned. Lena strode up to him and put a hand on his forehead.

“How are you feeling?” She asked, patting him down like a child.

He brushed off her hands nonchalantly and gave a small smile. “I’m fine.” He then turned to the rest of us. “Come on, let’s get going.”

Deep in thought, Lena trudged back towards the group, who were straddling their horses. Kearan didn’t move, however, instead stayin by the side of the gate, keeping his hand on the ring. I quickly flicked on xera vision and watched the slow ebb of xera flow into the ring. Similar to my void magic, it seemed as if he needed to keep channelling xera into the ring to sustain it.

‘Why aren’t you coming?’ I asked, already predicting his answer.

“I am.” He replied. “The gate will close once I go through it.”

I allowed myself a small smile. Not that he could see it. ‘That’s what I thought.’

“Everyone ready?” Mox called out, slowly directing his horse closer to the gate. It seemed nervous and pawed at the ground as he got closer. “Come on, boy.” He whispered, soothing the fretting animal.

The rest of the Haven guild around me did the same.

Still congratulating myself on predicting Kearan’s reply, I didn’t realise that the dark purple gate was already looming over us.

“Brace yourself, June.” Verity said casually, breaking me out of my thoughts.

‘Wai- wha-’

Before I could fully comprehend, the purple surface in the ring rippled, and our horse’s head disappeared.

‘Oh, shit.’ I managed to mumble before I, too, entered the darkness.

Instantly, the world around me turned blank. A strange sensation surrounded me, seemingly digging into my body, threatening to tear it apart. It wasn’t exactly pain- more similar to the feeling of being submerged under water.

I couldn’t talk. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t hear. Could barely feel.

And then, as suddenly as I’d been thrown into this hell, I was out.

Back in the sunlight and the gentle breeze. Even though I was in my potato body, I still felt sick and wanted to throw up. My vision spun and it took a solid minute for me to take in my surroundings.

Ahead of us was a stone scattered dusty bridge, leading far into the distance. Around us, travellers and adventurers grumbled and trudged about, either returning or setting out on all sorts of adventures. Two guards wearing chainmail and red flags lazed around, chewing on a rather squashed sandwich.

We were back. Back in Terralica.

But before I could jump out of Winter’s pocket and prance about in the air at the delight of being back home, something in the distance caught my eye. A large wooden wall, parallel to the edge of the cliffside. Just peeking out over the top of it were several chimneys, barely visible.

And yet something else was clearly visible.

It was black and grey and hung over the kingdom ominously in heavy clouds.

It was smoke.

Agridia was on fire.