Thomas was anxious. He didn’t quite understand what was happening, but from Leon’s words and Derek’s seriousness, he knew it was bad. He’d never seen Derek act so seriously before, so when the man shouted to run, he ran.
The group of five had traveled a good distance away from the battle. They made sure to flee in the same direction as the others. Eventually, Leon stopped running and stilled. Thomas, seeing Leon as the leader, at least until Derek got back, stopped too.
“What are we doing? Why did you stop?” The first to speak up was Malorie. Thomas watched as she anxiously shifted her body from side to side. “Is it…” She trailed off and didn’t continue.
Leon gave her a sad smile. “Yes… he’s gone.” Travis, being held by Leon, had finally succumbed to his fate. “I’m sorry.” Leon laid Travis’s body on the grass.
Thomas took in the somber scene as Brandi ran over to her father and fell to her knees, weeping uncontrollably.
The scene reminded Thomas of losing his own parents. The difference was that Brandi had gotten to say goodbye, but Thomas didn’t even see their corpses. All he knew was what he was told.
Two years ago, his parents had both reached 24. They were warriors of the village and had gone to a nearby dungeon to obtain some rewards. The dungeon was for those who were level 25 and under and offered a variety of common skills, and even some better ones, as a reward upon completion. It allowed no more than five people in at once and was considered one of the easier dungeons, even among villagers.
Rayna, the current village leader, had even gone by herself and solo’d it when she was at the correct level. She didn’t have a problem. So, with his mother and father going together, there was no worry in the village.
Unfortunately for Thomas, the two never returned.
Thomas snapped out of his daze and continued watching. He looked over at Leon, who had backed away to give the mother and daughter some space. Then he approached.
“Chief Leon?” he asked.
“Yes?” Leon turned away from the grieving pair and gave his attention to Thomas.
“That thing from the sky, you said that was a Void Beast? And Derek summoned it? Is that even possible? Do you think Derek is okay?” Thomas couldn’t control himself and rapidly spat out question after question, his anxiety and stress increasing with every new question.
“Slow down, boy,” Leon replied, halting Thomas. “Now, I don’t know much about your ‘friend’ Derek.” Thomas could see wariness from Leon when he mentioned Derek. “Legends describe how Void Beasts appear and leave. Usually, they come through an open portal, then leave by breaking the void in the sky and entering. I don’t know how it happened, but the Void Beast we just saw broke the void to get out.” Leon gulped. “This means that portals aren’t the only ways for a Void Beast to appear.”
Thomas could see the fear in Leon’s eyes when talking about the Void Beast. “But… do you think that Derek will make it out okay?”
“Boy, I don’t know. If he doesn’t, it serves him right. He had no business messing with things he doesn’t understand.” Leon took a deep breath. “Even if he lives, it’d be better off if we never saw him again. A man like that will only bring the village trouble.”
“Is that so?” a voice from behind the two rang out. They both spun to see Derek standing behind them.
Once Derek left the abandoned village, it didn’t take long to catch up with Thomas and the others. After seeing the deceased Travis, he waited to approach, not wanting to disturb Malorie and Brandi. He casually eavesdropped on the conversation between Leon and Thomas.
He heard Leon’s words and felt the apprehension in his voice. Well… I guess I can’t blame the guy. His village was destroyed, and he lost most of his people. Also, he probably knows that I could have saved Travis, and even if he understands why I didn’t, it would give him some reservations about me. And to top it all off, I summoned a legendary monster from the void that is known for its destruction. Derek shrugged. I’m sure he’ll get over it.
Leon stared at Derek with shock and embarrassment. Derek smirked.
“Derek! You’re okay!” Thomas ran forward, hugging Derek at his waist. “The way Leon talked about that monster made it sound like there was no chance.” Thomas’s eyes were reddening, and tears threatened to form.
Derek hadn’t expected this outburst of emotions from Thomas. He had observed Thomas as emotionally strong. Well, except for when he was sure that I was going to kill him. But even an adult would have had a hard time in that situation. Derek peeled Thomas off. “You okay, kid? You seem a little… off.”
“I… um… I’m just happy you’re alive.” Thomas backed off, his cheeks turning rosy from embarrassment.
Derek looked at Leon, who was standing off to the side, brow furrowed. Looks like he’s trying to figure out what to say. Derek’s smirk turned into a smile. “Sorry to disappoint you. I somehow made it back.”
Leon’s eyes widened. “No, I’m not disappointed. I was just speaking without thinking. I’m sorry.”
Derek had never seen somebody backpedal as fast as Leon was. He chuckled. “It’s okay… I understand your reservations. Earlier was my bad. Your Great System gave me a new skill with a very unhelpful description. I shouldn’t have tested it with other people around.
“Just know that I don’t plan on doing anything like that again. At least not with that skill—and definitely not around other people,” Derek finished, trying to calm the man down.
Leon let out a sigh. “No, I was still wrong. You saved me, and you saved Thomas. Hell, you saved everyone who is left from my village. You didn’t…” Leon looked towards Thomas, then to the body of Travis. “Couldn’t save Travis, but that’s not your fault. I’ll trust that you will control your new skill and won’t endanger anyone. You’ve done much more good to us than harm. I’m sorry for what I said.”
So he did guess that I had a way to revive the man… Leon’s words confirmed Derek’s suspicions. Derek looked over at the grieving pair. “Would you like me to store his body so he can have a proper funeral later?”
Leon was taken aback. “You would do that? I’m sure Mal would be grateful.”
Derek nodded. With a pitying smile, Derek walked over to the pair. “You’re Malorie and Brandi, right? I’m sorry for your loss. If you’d like, I can store his body so the two of you can give him a proper send-off once we get somewhere safe.”
The little girl sobbed, but Malorie looked up at Derek and nodded. “Thank you. We would like that very much.”
Derek kneeled next to the body and placed his hand on top of its chest. He looked at Brandi, who was still clutching Travis’s hand. “You’ll have to let go now,” he said gently.
Brandi let go, and the body disappeared.
“Okay, everyone, it’s time to catch up with the others. The longer we’re here, the higher the chance of something bad happening to them. And you’ve all already lost enough people for one day,” Derek warned, letting them realize that what he said was true.
“I’ll take the lead,” Leon said.
Derek looked at Leon skeptically. He was still injured from before, and it would take some time before he was fully healed. “No, it would be better if I led. You’re still injured.” Derek thought for a second before taking a small container out of the bracelet and tossing it to Leon. “Here, apply the paste to your wounds and you will heal faster.” He’d given the man some potions earlier, but the man still had many visible wounds.
Leon caught the container. He looked inside, then nodded. “Thank you.”
Brandi, seeing the healing supplies, started to say something. Seeing this, Derek knew what she was going to say. “It’s not enough to bring someone back from the dying state. It’s only good enough for superficial wounds like cuts and bruises.” Brandi nodded and chose not to speak.
“Let’s go.”
It was already evening when the group of five set out, so night soon fell. Derek led the group through the night so they could catch up to the remaining refugees. The children could not keep up, so Derek carried Thomas for most of the night, while Leon and Malorie took turns carrying Brandi.
Derek could have arrived much sooner if not for the group, but at the pace they were setting, it was not until the next morning that they came across the remaining villagers.
After arriving at the group, Derek decided to camp for some time so the children could rest. With him there, they wouldn’t have to worry about being attacked. While doing so, he let Leon explain the events that had taken place to the villagers. Derek couldn’t help but be saddened by the atmosphere of the crowd after Leon’s information.
Looks like almost everyone lost somebody there. He looked over to see Leon with his wife, Sana. They looked happy to be together, but Derek could see the guilt reflected in their eyes. That’s going to be tough on Leon for the foreseeable future. Survivor’s guilt was a crushing thing.
Later, Leon and Sana came and sat close to Derek. Thomas had already awoken from his nap and was beside Derek.
“So, what happened to that monster?” Thomas asked.
It surprised Derek that it had taken so long for anyone to ask about the Void Beast. He had expected the question to come from Leon, but his conversation from earlier had probably put a halt to any questioning.
Both Sana and Leon perked up their ears after hearing the question. “Oh, that thing? It was nothing. I’m sure that there are a ton of people around that could take care of one. Once it saw that it couldn’t do much damage to me, it jumped back into the sky and broke back into the void.”
Derek paused for a second, giving the group some time to digest what he had said. “I think the legends are a bit overrated. Sure, it’s tough, and hits like a trai… hits really hard. But I don’t think it’s worthy of a legend. I’m sure a high enough level person would be able to slaughter them by the dozens. At least if they are all the same strength as the one I fought.
“I have seen one that appeared to be stronger than the one I fought, so maybe we got lucky, and I only summoned a weak one. I don’t know. All I know is that I’m not planning on using that skill again for a very long time,” Derek explained.
“It left? Just like that?” This time, it was Leon asking the question.
“Yup. Just as soon as it knew it couldn’t kill me. Pretty smart if you ask me.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Derek noticed Brandi stirring from her slumber. “Okay. Since everyone is awake, it’s time to get going.”
