Jordan felt his remaining strength fade as the symbiosis wore off just in front of the town entrance. A small crowd had gathered, led in front by Reggie and Regina, and most were holding weapons. As Jordan fell to the ground with Vince toppling off his back, the crowd quickly lowered their weapons and rushed to tend to them. Vince’s arm was still bleeding profusely, and Jordan’s vision began to fade as he started to slip into unconsciousness.
A woman appeared out of the crowd carrying multiple black bags. She pulled out a variety of different potions and tools, shooing Reggie away as she began to work on Vince’s wound. He nodded and turned toward Jordan, running over and shouting. Jordan couldn’t hear him as his ears began to ring, the world slowly fading as he involuntary lowered his head.
Using all of his remaining strength, he pushed his head up and pointed it toward his belt. He hoped Reggie would get the hint to check his pouch, and luckily he was a quick study as he reached down and grabbed the potion Jordan had been hoping for. He uncorked the glimmering white elixir and poured the contents into Jordan mouth. He felt the effects shoot through his body and jumped up, his energy levels higher than they had ever been. Reggie fell backwards in shock at Jordan’s sudden burst of movement.
“Dammit Jordan warn a guy next time! Are you ok? What happened?” He asked, the insanity of the situation confusing him further by the second. The sugar rush potion provided a quick burst of energy for 2 minutes before a hard crash, and Jordan knew he needed to hurry and get back to Bryn before the effects wore off.
“Bryn’s fighting a floating sword and he shouldn’t be doing that!” Jordan screamed as he took off running toward the fight. Reggie looked on with a bewildered expression, eventually shaking his head and turning back to address the crowd. He had hoped that Jordan could have provided some insight into the rainbow explosion everyone had seen, but Reggie knew Jordan was doing what he thought was best and probably couldn’t be dissuaded.
Jordan sprinted toward Bryn’s last location, activating his Animal Spirit Skill Cheetah as he continued to run faster. Above the rotted trees in the distance, he could see random flickers of light and the clash of swords. Jordan thought as he ran, pondering what the source of the fighting could have been. It wasn’t as if Bryn could wield a sword. Unless…
Jordan smiled as he tore through the marshland and came ever closer to the fight ahead. He was within a quarter mile as he saw an explosion of black flames pierce the fog above the battlefield, only to be met seconds later by an even larger explosion of white flames. As if the underworld and the heavens themselves engaged in combat, Jordan chuckled as he arrived at the scene.
“I knew you were special you idiot.” Jordan said, staring at his party member, glowing with a cloak of white flames as he stood in his titan ascendance form. He stood over the spirit sword barbarian, clearly dead as the blood was still pouring from his neck. The face of a flaming raptor turned to look at Jordan, and tilted its head to the side as if pondering who he was.
Jordan looked back, his arms crossed and his smile humongous. “Snap out of it feathers, we still have work to do.” He said as he causally began walking toward the flaming creature.
Slowly, the intensity of the flames simmered, and the shape of the raptor began to dissipate as Bryn’s face emerged from the swirling flames. The rest of the fire on his body began to dissipate as well, and he began to fall to the ground. He face planted into the mud, Jordan standing above him with his hand sheepishly covering his mouth.
“Dude I was not paying attention, I should have caught you, that’s on me.” He said as he picked his friend up, trying to avoid getting any of the giant’s blood on him. As he picked up Bryn’s unconscious body, he made his way back to Dregmoor. Upon reaching the path that led into town, he noticed the weeds near the front gate were taller than usual, but he paid it no mind as his sugar crash began to approach. Upon arriving at the group of people led by Reggie, Jordan began to fall as well, receiving his karma as Reggie was unable to prevent him from falling in the muck himself. Upon hitting the ground, it was now Jordan’s turn to be unconscious.
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Bryn looked out of the window that again showed the massive planet and stars, the viewing stone disappearing once Scott had teleported. After a few minutes of stressfully imagining how the fight was going, he found he couldn’t find anything more to worry himself about and simply looked outside. He couldn’t have been staring for longer than 15 minutes, but it felt like it had been years since he had talked to somebody else when he suddenly heard Scott’s voice once again.
“Hey Bryn I’m back. Hope I didn’t worry you, the giant floating sword guy was a piece of cake but the time lag between here and there is pretty rough.” Scott said as Bryn spun around in surprise. “Anyway, I’ll be sending you back now. Good luck with everything and we’ll talk soon” he said as he began to swipe his hand.
“Wait!” Bryn yelled, holding his hand out. Scott stopped and tilted his head slightly.
“What’s up?” He asked, his innocent tone starting to annoy Bryn slightly.
“Before I go back, why did you pick me? You were assigned to Jordan first right?” Bryn asked nervously. “What makes me a better option than him? I don’t even have a boon.” Bryn said as Scott looked on.
His expression didn’t change but he did lower his hand before speaking. The same boyish smile was plastered on his face, never showing any emotion besides innocent joy.
“Because…I like your style, I suppose.” Scott said casually. Before Bryn could respond, Scott raised his hand and swiped it to his left, and Bryn’s vision darkened immediately. A burst of light hit his eyes, and he shut them immediately. Upon slowly blinking them open, Bryn saw he was now laying in the bed of his room at the Really Good Inn. He looked over and saw a viewing stone on his bedside table that had been charged with den so that it displayed the time and date.
11/21/1 5:00 am
Bryn yawned and rubbed his eyes as he sat up. Clasping his hands together and raising his arms above his head, he could feel the popping in his back as he performed his familiar morning stretch. Just as he lowered his arms and fully opened his eyes, the math finally computed.
He had been unconscious for about 3 weeks.
He bolted up and scrambled out of bed, immediately falling to the wooden floor as his legs failed him. They felt like jelly that had been lying in bed for 3 weeks, and he eventually stood up after a considerable struggle. He slowly paced around the room while swinging his arms back and forth, attempting to stretch out his body a bit before making his way to the door. Upon exiting the room, he noticed the Inn was eerily silent.
After going through the hallway and down the staircase, he tripped over something and fell forward, landing on his beak. He stood up, his embarrassment overwhelming him despite the lack of audience. He rubbed his beak and looked to see what had tripped him, his concern spiked upon seeing it.
A thick vine had burst through the wooden floor, its surface covered in colorful flowers and massive leaves the size of a dinner plate. Bryn looked around and saw that the lobby of the Inn was covered in similar vines, the walls and ceiling being covered just as much as the floor. Bryn tried to process what had happened. He had been out for 3 weeks, clearly the flower outside of town causing the plant growth had accelerated, and-.
Before he could finish the thought, the front door of the Inn swung open. Jordan walked in, his leather armor that had once been brown now turned green. His hood and the sword he held were also green, and he sheathed his weapon as he closed the door behind him. Bryn walked forward and Jordan looked up, noticing his presence for the first time.
He ran over and hugged Bryn, shocking him into a frozen state. After the hug didn’t stop, he awkwardly patted Jordan on the back as he pushed him away.
“Miss me?” Bryn asked sarcastically.
“No shut up, you’re ugly” Jordan said, avoiding eye contact and wiping his eyes. Bryn chuckled before his face turned to a more serious expression.
“What happened while I was out?” Bryn asked, noticing that Jordan’s armor was not a different set that was a different color, but that it had been covered in something green.
“You have some questions to answer yourself young man, but I guess this does take priority.” Jordan said, waving his hand and walking toward the door. Bryn followed behind, and Jordan stopped as he placed his hand on the doorknob.
“Stay back, we don’t know how quickly you can move in your current state, just take a look so you know the scope of what we’re dealing with.” Jordan said cautiously.
Bryn looked nervously at him before acknowledging the serious expression he wore, nodding to indicate he was ready. Jordan pulled open the door, and Bryn gasped aloud at the sight before him.
Every building, and road in sight was covered in vibrant plant life. Vines, flowers, and various breeds of plants were visibly continuing to grow as Bryn watched them. A villager Bryn didn’t recognize swung an axe at one of the vines, wiping the sweat from his brow as the vine next to it continued to grow. Jordan looked back at Bryn, a playful smile on his face.
“At least I’m finally in my element” he said as batted away a vine growing from the wall near his ear.