The minutes passed, and the two meerkats still could not move the egg out of the pedestal, too heavy for them. They had thought of rolling it, but it was in a small hollow in the middle of the pedestal that forced them to lift it slightly first. But no matter how hard they tried, they stayed at the same point.
"Only ten minutes before the end of the event !" Rusheb groaned at the unpleasant voice of the presenter. If it went on like that, they would lose too !
The audience was getting bored too, much less noisy and attentive. A hubbub was once again installed as everyone stood out from the event unfolding before their eyes.
"I thought there would be more action..." a spectator complained, yawning.
"Yes, it's been a quarter of an hour that nothing is happening... They are too weak to lift the egg, so we have to wait another ten minutes..." Another responded by blowing boredom. He was eager for this match to end so he could attend the next one.
In the arena, Arun was not completely unconscious. He heard and saw all that his adversaries were doing, and their vain attempts to lift the egg. It was a slight relief, but the vet was already happy to know they would not win.
"Arun..." Shuu's voice reached the ears of the young man, who, as he opened his eyes, saw that the meerkat had dragged down to his side. Neither Rusheb nor Toma had seen or heard him, too busy about their problem.
"I'm sorry, Shuu... Again, it's my fault that you've been hurt... I really didn't want to make you come in there." Arun apologized, thinking back to what the boy had to endure because of this [Pet Pact].
"No. I'm sorry too. Again I'm losing to the one who's already taken me enough. I want to get my revenge, to make him pay for all that, but I don't have any means to do that. I'm weak, that's why I'm condemned to suffer the actions of the strongest." It was the law of nature. Shuu did not have the means to defend himself against Rusheb.
"I thought you never met him..."
"I never met him, but it was he who killed a good part of my colony one day when I went hunting with other meerkats. When we returned, everyone was dead, including my parents." Shuu paused for a moment, trying to restrain himself from crying.
He had promised himself that he would no longer think about this story and become stronger... And he had thought that he had finally succeeded. But seeing Rusheb again and feeling his power crushing him, he felt like the day he had lost all his family, helpless.
"I can't do anything, no matter how much I want it, I can't defend myself... So how can I defend others?" He said clapping his fist on the sand, letting out tears that wet the ground of the arena.
"You don't have to blame yourself for that. Do you think I'm strong ? I just do my best to help those who need it, but I too fail, and I've failed again to protect you because I can't afford it. And I have failed to protect other people too." Arun thought back to Naal, hoping she was fine. If he had been stronger, she would not have to suffer all that.
"But the most important is not the strength or the abilities. The most important thing, you already have it. And even if I've failed, I'm here to fix my mistakes, I'll never give up. You don't get to defeat your opponent in one day ? You'll get there in more time ! Your real strength is your will, Shuu." Arun smiles at his friend, to give him courage and strength. He understood better how hard it must have been for him to be opposed to Rusheb.
"We have not lost yet." Added Arun. The young man's gaze was suddenly filled with determination.
"And how are you going to turn things around ? Even if we get up, they will have no trouble sending us back to the ground..."
"Do you trust me ?" The vet reached out to the boy with a reassuring smile. A smile that would have made anyone join him. Yes, with Arun, they could win.
"Obviously." Shuu put his clawed hand on his partner's, and immediately Mili's voice, which had been absent for a long time, sounded in Arun's head.
"[Pet Pact] : completed ! Shuu's [Affinity Level] has been greatly increased."
"Wait, where did you go, Mili ?" Arun was almost startled when he heard the cat's voice, which he had missed. However he got no answer, as if he had just heard a pre-recorded excerpt.
"A-Arun... I feel... Better !" Strangely Shuu no longer felt the pain of the blows he had taken, and felt like he could jump up to run more than ever.
"You're right, me too..." Arun had never experienced this sensation. All of a sudden, his vision had become much better, to the point that he could accurately distinguish each face from the audience. His legs felt lighter too, and he felt like his lungs had doubled in size.
"With the increase of [Affinity Level], you get a temporary bonus when you're close. You've inherited some of the meerkat abilities, and Shuu's physical abilities have been increased as well." So it was thanks to the system that all this was possible? It was falling just at the right moment !
"Let's go, Shuu !" Arun jumped up, almost with the feeling of floating above the ground as his body seemed light. He reached the pedestal in an instant and pulled Rusheb away with a powerful punch, propelled by his breathtaking momentum. For the first time, it was the meerkat eater who was pushed a few meters back, taken by surprise.
"What...?" Toma did not have time to react either. Arun put his hand on the egg, and immediately the number on the shell went from "1000" to "10". It was a lot of difference!
Raising the egg quickly with both hands, he tossed it at Shuu who was standing a few feet away.
"Catch !" The egg flew in the air and the meerkat came to receive it somehow. Could the egg break, by the way ? He preferred to avoid testing that.
"Hey, how can you still be up ?" Toma grabbed Arun by the arm, but he pulled his away, kicking the meerkat's chest.
Shuu suddenly felt the weight of the egg increase, and the number on the shell went from "10" to "20". So the action that increased the weight of the egg was that ?
"Arun, don't hit Toma or Rusheb !" Deconcentrated by the information of his partner, Arun felt a sharp pain cross his back, while his body fell to the ground, as paralyzed. Rusheb had got up and had taken him from behind.
"I don't know where this sudden force comes from, but I'm going to have to calm you down. Don't think you're going to win, brats. But thanks to your information, I know what to do to get us out of this dead end." The smile of the meerkat opened his face in two, he was so jubilant at the idea of slaughtering even more the hopes of Arun and Shuu.
No, he was not going to let them out so easily.