Arc 4: What families entail
Road to a hero:
Three chances in another world
Chapter 28. Drinking buddy
Gray travels for many hours, passing multiple villages and small cities and looking at all the farmland. He takes nap after nap trying to get to Jongs village as fast as possible which seems to have paid off since Gray’s coming up to Buggy Village.
Gray: “Finally.”
Gray removes his armor and puts casual clothes on. He leads the Drake throughout the village asking where Jong lives. Eventually, he gets his location and starts to walk toward his house. He finds a crummy brick building with sounds of talking and screaming inside.
Gray: “They said this was a bar, guess he’s a regular patron.”
Gray walks in to be surprised by everyone holding a weapon in the bar.
Gray: “UM…IS JONG HERE!?”
They all start to charge Gray, forcing him to protect himself. Gray jumps back outside, trying his best to dodge and only use palm strikes to stun them.
Gray: “I’M APART OF THE LEVIATHAN ARMY! IV’E COME HERE TO LOOK FOR JONG'S HELP!”
They all stop and move around Gray in a wide circle. He paces around in small circles to observe every possible opponent. At the side, with the bar, they all walk away to make a path for an old man with claw marks scaring his face to walk through. He walks up to Gray, dressed in rough attire, and scratching his gray scruffy beard. He spits on the ground, looking at Gray with a confused tone.
Gray: “My name is Gray Kyojin, I've been sent here by Chris of the Walgonian knights and I am A member of the Leviathan army. Are you Jong?”
The man gives Gray the stink eye, leaning right up to him. He looks hostile, but he surprises Gray by hugging him tightly.
Jong: “HELLO GRAY! YEP, I’M JONG LONG! THE LAST COMMANDER AND CHIEF! So why aren't you wearing any armor, you don’t get any weapons on ya either…and YOU STILL SURVIVED FIGHTING MY FRIENDS HERE!”
Jong gives Gray a noogie, then he leads him back to the inside of the bar, finding the inside pretty clean and well-kept.
Jong: “HERE! Have a drink with me.”
Gray: “Um…okay.”
The bartender gives Gray a glass of bourbon, then he walks away to tend to the other patrons who are walking back into the bar.
Jong: “So why did Chris send you here?”
Gray: “He said that you’re planning on infiltrating the Walgonian capital and gonna take back Walgonia. And we’re already planning the same thing.”
Jong: “REALLY! I’ve spent the last two months getting my men back together after we all got fired. We got replaced by those freaks.”
Gray: “They are a part of the Sect of Anarchy, as well as Arthur.”
Jong: “No way… actually that makes more sense…kinda. So what’s your plan?”
Gray: “A group of my friends are in Athens right now, trying to end the civil war and get their help with taking back Walgonia. Hopefully, when I get there they’ll have progressed…but I think they’re in danger.”
Jong: “Want me to help?”
Gray: “I want you to keep doing what you’re doing. But if you go to Greenvale mountain you’ll be able to meet up with the Leviathan army. I don’t know how long it’ll take…but it's only shot and we need as many fighters as we can get.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Jong: “Got yah. Rest downstairs in the barracks and we’ll head out tomorrow.”
Gray: “You sure, we need to get as much time as possible.”
Jong: “It’ll be okay. You look tired and worn out so get as much rest as you can.”
Gray: “Alright…thanks for the help.”
Jong: ‘HELL I should be thanking you. Now drink your drink!”
Gray gulps down his drink, shaking his face in disgust.
Jong: “What too strong?”’
Gray: “No…I’m good with bitterness…but I’m not a fan.”
Jong: “You lightweight?”
Gray: “Nope, just not used to the taste.”
Jong: “WELL LET’S GET YOU USED TO IT!”
Gray spends the rest of the night drinking with Jong and the other knights. After a few hours of fun, everyone slowly leaves to go downstairs and Gray follows them, gets into one of the many sleeping mats, and falls into a deep sleep. Jong shakes Gray quickly trying to wake him up. Gray gets up to see Jong shushing him, and pointing upstairs.
Gray: “*Whispers* What is it?”
Jong: “Guards are upstairs, I’m waking the others up.”
Gray: “Why, are we gonna fight?”
Jong: “If we have to. Don’t put your armor on…just grab a sword and walk up…we don’t want them to know you’re a part of the Leviathan army.”
Gray: “Does this happen normally?”
Jong: “Sometimes…but it’s only a free guy…but one of them is stronger than the rest by far.”
Gray: “You go up there solo, I can get a look of the area without even leaving.”
Jong: “Nice, okay I’m going up.”
Gray gets up, grabs his stuff, and slowly walks to the staircase which leads to the bar.
Gray: “How strong are you?”
Jong: “A bit stronger than the average Leviathan warrior…I have this sword which I can use pretty well…and I can use medium-level water magic.”
Gray: “Okay good…I’d say I’m above average as well, but all I really have is super strength and speed.”
Jong: “Got it…we go up together and leave me…our men have done here just in case.”
Gray: “Alright.”
Gray {Damn…I got a headache…is this what a hangover is?...damn it's not a good time to be aching…}
Jong, with only a sword, walks up the stairs right into a possible fight with no fear at all to help his men. A true leader. He walks up the stairs and opens the door to the bar to see two men dressed in cloaks, wearing white masks, and one dressed differently than the others is in the middle holding the dead body of the bartender.
Jong: “So…what are you doing with my friend there?”
Man: “He is harboring terrorists. We’ve been sent here to fix that.”
Jong: “And may I ask who I’m talking to?”
Charlie: “You can call me Charlie, and you must be Jong.”
Jong: Yep I’m Jong Long!”
Beneath the bar, Gray gets ready to fight. Gets his armor and weapons ready, and once he has finished preparing, he gets into a meditation position and begins to access his astral form. Deep breath after a deep breath, feeling all the spirits around him and once he's ready he leaves his physical body, entering the astral plane.
Gray {Before all I could see was blue…but now if I can focus I can see what’s around me…but all the mumbling is still a bit overwhelming.}
Gray's astral form floats up through the floorboards and watches the men converse unnoticed.
Gray {Two of the dudes are just dressed in normal Sect clothes…But that guy's cloak is cut and torn…and he’s not wearing a mask. It’s all kinda messed up, it’s buttoned at least but his belt is hardly hanging on…his hair looks okay I guess…slick back black hair, similar to Edwards.”
Gray flies close to Charlie's face, looking at his strange eyes.
Gray {His eyes are…SPLIT INTO FOUR!? He has normal-sized eyes but each of them is split into four squares on the inside…no pupil or iris…just pure white divided by black lines.}
Charlie: “I see you have a sword there. Are you planning on attacking us? Because if you do I’ll have to fight back.”
Jong: “Well if you have to…can we take this outside?”
Charlie: “Why? Got anything downstairs you don’t want me to know about?”
Gray {This guy is a cheeky bastard.}
Jong: “Okay..but if you want me to show you what’s down there without having to fight I can do that too.”
Charlie: “Alright I can do that.”
Jong: “Alright come on.”
Gray {WHAT’S HE DOING!}
Gray loses focus and is forcefully pulled back into his body. He looks around panicking before realizing that all of the knights had left. Everything was gone, along with any more evidence that they were down there.
Gray: “Nice..”
The door opens, and Charlie looks right at Gray. Charlie's right eye squares begin to turn black one by one and very slowly. Gray puts his mask on and jumps at Charlie, trying to hit him with a palm strike. Charlie ducks, places his hand on Gray's stomach, winks, and releases a powerful force out of his right arm, sending Gray into the air and causing him to slam into the ceiling.
Jong quickly strikes down the Sect members, then immediately rushes to stab Charlie. Charlie charges up another attack, and blasts a great force out of his right leg, sending him flying past Jong and out the door of the bar.
Gray falls to the ground, and along with Jong, they both rush out of the bar. Charlie turns around to face them, he swings his arms up, and various different members of the Sect drop from rooves.
Charlie: “DON! GET DOWN HERE!”
A man walks out of an alleyway, wearing a cloak similar to the Sects but smaller and easier to move in. He pulls out a spear and points it at Gray.
Gray: “So you must be Don, cool spear.”
Don: “And you must be Gray Kyojin. We heard your message back at the castle, actually, everyone heard it. Jeremiah called you the reaper.”
Charlie: “You killed are brothers and sisters. Anibis, Carla, Conroy…and Jeremiah…THEY’RE DEAD NOW BECAUSE OF YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS!”
Gray: “You shouldn’t have messed with us, so it’s not my problem.”
Charlie: “KILL THEM!”
Before anything drastic happens, all the fired knights appear from around the bar, dressed in shawty armor and holding rust or cracked swords. But in numbers, Gray's team outnumbers the Sect and hopefully in power too.
They all stand facing each other, ready for their possible ends.
END OF : Chapter twenty eight