Another Stupid Isekai

When I woke up, Will was already sitting on his bed, clearly thinking about something.

- Morning.

He looked at me. There was a bit of a pause before he said:

- Morning.

- You ok?

- Yeah, just... I didn't say anything yesterday, cause you were really upset but damn... I almost died yesterday. You to... They got you good. Fuck...

Yeah - I laid back on the couch, staring into the ceiling. - It's not the first time for me though...

- Me too, but it always hit hard, when you start thinking about it. It was so damn close...

- Yeah. That's why I was upset.

- You know Peter... I like to daydream from time to time, about me making it back to earth. Visiting my family, and fixing things between us. Finally giving them the life they deserve. How about you? Do you think about your family?

- No. I never really had a chance. There was too much going on. But it would be nice to return, not as a worthless piece of trash, but as somebody. You know... worthy.

- Yeah. It would be nice. I always wanted my kid to brag about how his father is the best.

I looked at Will. He was smiling, but on his cheek, there was a single tear making its way to the chin. He wiped it with the back of his hand.

- Should we ditch this place, Will? Let others deal with this shit?

- No. It's our chance. It's my chance. I need to get my shit together and prove how much I'm worth. We are hunting rats today, Peter. Get up.

His facial expression became really serious. I could see his determination, and it affected me. I felt more motivated.

- We will push on. Deal with those problems and find a way to return - he continued. - Let's meet by the device.

Then he left. It took me few more minutes, to finally be on the move. I made it outside. We were a bit late, but there was no need to rush it since we were going to rat nest. People were leaving in groups, and only a couple of individuals still remained in the proximity of the device. Will was among them, already with the cart. Waiting for the turn to do a bit of shopping. I joined him and after a bit of waiting, we filled the cart with everything that was necessary for the hunt. Then we departed, heading to the nest. Taking our time. There was no need to rush.

We were still way too early, as the other hunters were in the middle of preparing to deal with the rat horde. There was no other way, but to keep the distance and wait for a couple of hours.

- If mushrooms would be growing in those woods, I could at least walk around, and pick some up for a soup or something.

- But there are no mushrooms in those woods, so you have to suffer with me, Will.

- I need a book or damn phone. Anything! Anything to kill time!

- We could always try to sneak inside the nest.

- Yeah, and then face all of those angry people? Peter, please...

- You afraid we can't take them on?

- No. The opposite. I'm afraid we would have to beat their asses. You have enough haters.

I just smiled. It felt kinda good to be hate-worthy. It meant I was important. Something completely opposite to what I used to feel back on earth.

- But why would they be angry? They already pulled the horde out. We won't be taking their crystals.

- I know it. You know it, but they probably won't agree anyway. Let's just wait, ok? How about you tell me a bit about your past, Peter? You know a lot about me, and I don't know shit about you...

- Nah. There is nothing much to say anyway. I used to be a waste of space.

- Then let's talk about something else. How about Aisha? Do you like her?

- She is a friend. A bit angry at me right now, but still a friend.

- I had that feeling there was a bit more between you.

- Maybe there was a possibility of something as one point, but I doubt it's still there. She... Changed?

- Of course, she did, after what she has been thru. It's obvious.

- That's not what I meant. She changed her view of me... Maybe of people in general. She used to be... Friendlier? Maybe had more trust in people. Was willing to give them more chances. I feel like she is afraid of being betrayed now.

- I kinda get her. She has been abused for a long, and we all failed to help her. Eventually, she was freed by you, but the damage done to her, remained. Wounds do heal with time, but... She needs that time.

- Yeah... We are not giving it to her, are we...

- Yep.

- I want this to be over Will. I want them to find Blue.

- Maybe we should look for an ability to find him? He can keep dodging us for a long time.

- I thought about it. Maybe we should give it a try.

- Yeah. You should use those points.

- I will. But now it's nap time. Keep watch, Will.

- Seriously, are you gonna ditch me like that?

I ignored him and found myself a good spot under a tree. He looked at me like I betrayed not only him but his whole family.

- Peter? Oh... Damn you...

It was not easy to fall asleep, still hearing the noises of an ongoing battle, not that far away, but, to my surprise, I drifted away for a moment.

- Hey, get up. We should be moving now.

- Uhh... Y-yeah - I mumbled and picked myself up.

Then we headed to the cave, making it past many hunters collecting their score from the hunt. We were observed very closely by many eyes until almost vanishing inside the nest.

We actually made it relatively quickly to the deeper levels. Fighting with legionnaires also was easy, although Will managed to break two swords. First time just because the blade was already too damaged, and it just snapped kinda naturally, but the second time he swung too hard, and just shattered the blade by hitting the floor. It cut the stone, but not that deep, and the sword burst into pieces.

On the third floor, he had some problems with rat ninjas, but my assistance allowed him to get thru unscratched. Finally, we made it to the door with the symbol of something looking like a tree. Really poorly done. Basically, it was a circle with something I can describe only as vines coming of it, and a tree trunk which was kinda a fancy capital "i".

- Should I wait? - Will suddenly spoke, pulling me back to reality.

- What? Oh... Yeah. It could be dangerous. He can teleport... You know what? Just focus on defending, and I'll take care of him. This way you should be fine.

- You sure? I don't wanna die, just to see you fighting a giant rat.

- It'll be fine - I said while bumping him with my elbow, and putting a barrier over his body.

- What the fuck? What the hell did you do?

- Defensive spell, or something... Just in case.

- Ok...

And I pushed the door making it inside. The oval-shaped room looked identical to what I remembered. Giant bowls burning with fire, and a throne covered by shadows.

- Where the heck is he? - asked Will.

- The throne. Watch out now - was my answer, as I made it further infusing pudao and my own body with ki.

Shadows moved, and rat boss emerged. I charged, at him, but he vanished into smoke, just to appear behind, trying to cut my head short. But I expected such a move and blocked by rising my weapon. There was a clang of clashing blades. I turned. He was gone.

- Fuck! - Will just couldn't hold it in, as he was nervously looking around.

Boss suddenly appeared next to him. I immediately put another barrier between them. Curved blade with ease cut thru the barrier, but Will managed to block the hit. Rat disappeared again in smoke.

- Shit! Where is he?! Where is he?! - Will went into panic mode.

I stayed calm, with the weapon at the ready. The very moment rat boss emerged midswing on Will's left side, I threw pudao with all the force I could muster, reinforcing it with ki. My friend managed to block again, but the boss didn't. Pudao nailed him to the wall. I rushed to finish him with a punch, but he disappeared again. My weapon stayed stuck in the wall.

I grabbed it and pulled it out with a bit of effort.

- Wher the hell did he go?!

- Shhhh... I've got this.

The rat appeared again, this time aiming for me. I stepped into The void, just to appear behind him. Using the same tactic, already swinging my weapon. He exploded into black smoke, and his crystal just fell on the floor, along with me. I ended on my knees, shivering a bit. The presence of this strange, gigantic being, of this constant desire to destroy, left me barely holding on.

- Damn you, Peter! That was a bad idea! I should have stayed behind! Hey! Are you ok?

- Sorry. I just wanted to show you how dangerous this one is - responded while picking myself up.

I had to hide trembling hands in my pockets and fake a smile.

- Next time, just say ok? I am perfectly capable of understanding speech. There is no need for examples. Thank you very much.

- Ok. Sorry again.

- You sure you are ok? Because you don't like it...

He clearly saw thru me.

- It's just that the skill I used is hard on the body... Exhausting.

- Ok. Grab that thing, and let's go... - he pointed at the stone.

That's what we did. At the first level, we had to deal with the rat horde, but except that, there were no more problems. It was very late at night when we finally made it back. The city center was almost deserted, only with few hanging around. We shared the score. I got 1 936 crystals, Will one more than that, and the boss stone.

- We are taking tomorrow off - he said after selling his part.

Then he just left.

- Ok

I sold my crystals, and followed him, to get some rest.

The day ended with 2 551 877 points remaining on my account, and a single class point.

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