I wasn’t able to see the clearing fully from how far back I was, but the sight still gave me a rush of wild hope. Somehow dredging up more energy from my exhausted frame, I accelerated, putting on a burst of speed. The bear creature recovered from slamming face-first into a tree from its failed lunge behind me. It let out a roar as it reoriented and began chasing me again.

C’mon, c’mon. Only a little bit more. You can do this. You can do this! You can fucking do this, Nathan!

Reaching the tree line, I burst out of it into the clearing proper. In a freeze frame, I took in the sight of everyone in it. There was Azarus standing off to the side of a…fucking gazebo? The hell? When did that happen? He had caught sight of me at the same time I did him. He was gaping at me, slowly lifting one arm to point in my direction. There was Magnus of course, sitting up in his chair in interest at my entrance. His guards seemed on edge, having moved to stand in front of the bottom of the gazebo with their weapons drawn.

Time sped up. I accelerated into the clearing, waving my one good arm like a crazy person. “Hey!” I shouted at the far group repeatedly in a hoarse voice. “Behind me! It’s coming!” I didn’t know if they heard me or not from this distance. It didn’t matter though, because I heard the monster crash through the tree line behind me. The reaction from the group was immediate. The guards tensed up and stepped forward while drawing their weapons, while Magnus fully stood up from his lounge chair with an excited look on his demented fucking face. Azarus caught my attention more though, because he shifted his pointing finger to behind me and shouted at the top of his lungs with an alarmed look on his face.

“-k out!” I heard faintly. Shit.

I dove off to my right frantically. Just in time too, as the bear-rabbit flew right over my head once I had hit the dirt. I lifted my head to track its progress. This time, there was no tree to block the lunge of the monster. It flew pretty damn far, landing not far from the gazebo that Magnus was standing in, causing the guards to frantically stumble away from it. Catching sight of the dwarves in front of it, the monster seemed to immediately forget about me despite how long it had been chasing me. It roared.

I was still too far away to hear what he said, but I was able see Magnus say something to the guards with a disdainful look on his face and gesture to the monster. Slowly standing up, I saw the guards steel themselves and then charge the beast I had spent so long leading here. My attention was stolen though when I saw Azarus jogging in my direction, not seeming to care about the monster at all.

I had managed to find my footing by the time he reached me, but was caught off guard when he hugged me. Since he was pretty tall for a dwarf, our heads were nearly level, with his only a handspan beneath my own. I was startled, but I still managed to wrap my good arm around him tentatively in return. Not long afterward, he pulled back while looking me in the eye. He visibly grimaced at the sight of me. “Are ya all right?” He asked me, concern thick in his voice.

I can only imagine how messed up I looked. I couldn’t see myself, but I knew I was covered in sweat, dirt, and blood. More of the blood than I cared to admit was my own, lost from either my short fight with the plant monster or from being scratched up from my frantic run through the forest. I had managed to keep my arm in my makeshift sling as well. Overall, I just felt like exhausted shit and I imagined I looked like it too.

I sighed tiredly. “Could be better,” I told him with a wan smile. Before we could continue our conversation, our attention was stolen by the sound of the bear-rabbit beginning to roar frantically. Looking over, I could see that the guards had managed to subdue the monster. If I’d had the energy, I would have laughed at the sight of five guards-dwarves using their entire body to pin each of the creature’s limbs and its head. Following my gaze, Azarus frowned at the sight. Turning back to me, he jerked his head in that direction in a motion to follow him. We managed to reach hearing distance of the group by the time Magnus had dramatically finished descending the short stairs. He threw the two of us a disinterested glance before turning his attention back to the monster. He studied the monster for a moment.

A large smile grew on Magnus’s face. “Well, well, well.” He said in an imperious tone. “Will you look at that. One of the cattle actually managed to succeed. It even managed to procure a suitable specimen. Will wonders never cease…” It was hard to hear him over the roars of the monster, but I couldn’t help but wonder who he was talking to. After a second, I concluded it was himself. I guess he just wanted to remind everyone of how important he was or something.

“Well, I graciously accept this gift of Aether.” He continued, his smile taking on a sinister edge. Approaching the monster, he settled into a stance and drew back his arm as if he was going to punch the monster before forming his hand into a knife-hand position. At an unseen trigger, his hand began to emit a green and black aura of energy that roiled over the points of his straightened fingers. The monster must have sensed something because its struggles intensified along with its roars. With a shout of effort, Magnus speared his hand down at the head of the monster.

His hand punctured the skull of the monster easily, splitting its skull in twain and causing it to burst violently in an explosion of gore. He didn’t stop there, however. Magnus continued on until his arm was buried elbow-deep into the abdomen of the monster, causing viscera to spray everywhere. Its struggles stopped immediately. What was more disturbing, was that Magnus didn’t immediately withdraw his arm. In fact, he pushed harder, until he was cheek to destroyed cheek with the monster. He stayed there, motionlessly, silently, until the monster began to dissolve into greasy black smoke.

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Once it had fully dispersed, only then did Magnus rise up from his crouching position. He didn’t turn to face anyone. He didn’t acknowledge the guards that had held the monster down so he could kill it, as they got up and moved out of his line of sight. He especially didn’t acknowledge me, who had brought the monster here in the first place. He didn’t even spare a glance at the core glimmering at his feet. He just stood there, staring off into the distance. I didn’t want to see the look on his face.

For the first time, I found myself intimidated by Magnus as a person. Sure, I was scared of him in the past, but that was because of his position and what he could have done to me. I had never considered what he could personally do to me, as someone with a higher-level Status than mine. Considering his depraved mindset and general malice, that didn’t bode well for the future.

Still staring off into the distance, Magnus finally let out a satisfied sigh and turned to face Azarus and I. Flicking a hand in our direction dismissively, he spoke. “You may go.” He said disinterestedly. “The cattle has fulfilled its obligation satisfactorily.”

Azarus snorted disdainfully at this cousin’s words. “Whatever.” He grunted. He turned around in order to leave. I followed his lead sluggishly, exhausted from my ordeal.

We were stopped when Magnus spoke again, causing the two of us to pause. Azarus didn’t turn to face him, but I did. Magnus was sneering at the both of us again.

“But remember, cousin.” He said warningly. “That human is my property. I may have lent it to you, but never forget that. If you go behind my back with it again, I’ll simply have it thrown to the dogs.”

If I hadn’t been so exhausted, I probably would have cared about him casually threatening my life. As it was, all I did was blink slowly at the death threat. Azarus didn’t give him the satisfaction of a reaction. He just started walking again. I followed at his heels, barely remembering to adopt the posture of an obedient slave in my worn-down state.

We began making our way to Azarus’s house.

……………………………………...

Azarus and I didn’t speak on the short trek to his house. We simply trudged along in silence, mutually aware that it wasn’t safe to speak out in the open so close to where Magnus had been. Before long, we had reached the clearing where his house waited for us. Entering it, we crossed the clearing to stand in front of the door. Azarus opened it and ushered me inside. I closed the door behind us. Afterward, I slumped up against it and slid to the floor with a long sigh.

I pulled my knees up and buried my face in them like I was a child, trying to control my breathing.

In and out.

I was dimly aware of Azarus walking away in the direction of the kitchen. Grey must have been in there because I heard an indistinct conversation. I wasn’t paying attention though, because I was trying to hold myself together.

I guess it was just now hitting me that I was safe after my ordeal. God. Just…how do I deal with what I had gone through? Now that it was over, I was astonished that I had managed to survive and triumph over the task Magnus had forced me into. It felt like sheer dumb luck that I had succeeded.

If I hadn’t stumbled on the plant monster…

If I hadn’t managed to kill it by the skin of my teeth…

If I hadn’t leveled up into the exact right class to survive the bear-rabbit…

So much had gone right that it almost felt suspicious, in all honesty.

I was broken out of my thoughts by the gentle clearing of a throat in front of me. Looking up, I found Grey sitting in his chair right in front of me. Blinking at the sight of him, I was surprised by the wave of emotion that swept over me. It had been weeks since I had seen Grey, and I was surprised at how much I had missed him.

Seeing that he had caught my attention, Grey smiled at me gently. He picked up a glass of water that he had been holding in his lap and offered it to me wordlessly. Suddenly aware of how desperately thirsty I was after hours of sprinting through a forest, I took it gratefully. Grasping it with both hands, I gulped it down greedily.

“Slowly, now.” I heard Grey say. “It’s not going anywhere.”

Finishing the glass, I lowered it and gasped for breath before speaking. “Thank you,” I said to Grey, my throat already feeling better.

Grey nodded at my words with a hmm. Wordlessly, he offered me his hand in a motion to help me up. I took it gratefully, somewhat surprised at how easily a man in a wheelchair could help me up. I rose to my feet with a groan.

“If you’re hungry, there’s food in the kitchen as well,” Grey said to me kindly. “Or would you prefer to wash yourself, first? Speaking from experience, I well know that the detritus of battle isn’t comfortable.”

I looked at him in surprise. “You know about what happened?”

“Hmm.” Grey nodded. “Azarus filled me in on the basics.” He paused, before continuing. “I’m truly sorry that you had to experience that, Nathan. I’m afraid you’ve had a run-in with the most horrific practice of this town, driven by that reprobate Magnus.”

My breath hitched in my throat briefly, before I cleared it and shook my head. “Not…not now, yeah? I think…I’ll take that bath first. Food isn’t going anywhere, yeah?” I smiled weakly at Grey.

“Very well.” Grey nodded slightly, with an understanding sigh. “Azarus and I will be in the kitchen in the meantime. Take your time. Some roast chicken and potatoes will be waiting for you when you’re finished.”

With one last parting nod at Grey, I walked up the staircase to the second floor.