It was a fresh morning, it was neither warm nor cold. Nemma was sitting at the table, drinking tea with Lori again. But they weren't alone. In the kitchen, a man almost completely wrapped in bandages, including his torso, limbs and head was standing making some sandwich. Only body parts that weren't wrapped were his left eye, mouth and joints so he could move. The man in question was Lucas. Some bandages were still bloody as wounds didn't seem to heal completely.
Lucas was using two walking sticks to ease the pain off his body. There was a big fly roaming around him and he looked pretty irritated. He waved his hand and it flew away.
" I told you Lucy, sit down and rest. An hour ago you were as good as dead. My offer still stands, I'll make you a sandwich. " Lori said.
Lucas was quiet, he was having a hard time holding a knife or slice of bread. By merely touching something he would feel the pain in his hands echo through the body.
" Come on man, sit down. "
Lucas took a deep breath, it sounded painful and sad; " I-... can't-... rest forever-... " he was in obvious pain from talking.
Lori turned around, shrugged his shoulders and sipped some tea. Nemma was looking at him with worried expression. She leaned forward and whispered to Lori; " He is really proud isn't he? Why doesn't he accept your offer? ". Lori giggled and spoke in normal tone of voice; " No use whispering around this guy. He could probably hear what old man Kai is doing in his cabin at the other side of the village. " he pointed his thumb behind him at Lucas in the kitchen.
Lucas just mumbled something.
" He is proud indeed, but he has a reason to be. Just wait for him to heal completely. " Lori said. He them proceeded with humming a familiar melody. Nemma was looking at him; " Hey.. that melody you've been humming, does it have any relevance to you? ". Lori stopped humming and smiled.
" It does.. My mother singed this song to me while I was young. It holds a deep meaning for me. " he looked both happy and sad.
" And is she... " she tried suggesting something.
" Yes. She was killed. Burnt along with rest of my village. As my regenerating ability is far above what fire can do to me, I was the only person to survive from people of my village. And my mother, she was holding me in her arms while.. burning alive. She held my eyes closed and singed the song despite everything. She didn't stop until the very last breath. " he looked aside, it was painful to talk about. Nemma looked sad.
" Heh.. as fire stopped, and bodies went cold, I stood up. Only thing I could see, excluding ashes and corpses, was a man in golden armour. Assumed by us to be Emperor of Ibotha Heavenly Empire. " he said. Nemma was quiet. Lori smiled at her; " Don't be sad, my grief is extinguished by my anger. No need to feel pity for me.. ". He then looked down at the tea and started humming again;
" The stars follow me,
When I cry they get quiet,
Tiny stars still a light on the night,
Oh when the stars align, oh when the stars align.. " he singed softly. Nemma smiled, but let down a tear.
" Talk-... quieter-... my head-... hurts-... " he said while still trying to pick up a kitchen knife.
Lori and Nemma got silent. They drank their tea so quiet no noise could be heard. Only noise in the room was Lucas mumbling and knife hitting the floor now and then. Until...
BZZZZZZZZZZZZ~
Annoying fly returned. It was flying around Lori. Lori didn't bother, he drank his tea slowly. Fly was roaming around... and landed on Lori's head. It was standing still on his head. In that moment, complete silence appeared. Knife stopped hitting the floor, Lucas was quiet behind Lori. Lori couldn't see what was happening behind him nor the reason Lucas was standing still. All he saw was Nemma's scared expression. What she saw was... Aura gathered around Lucas and his eye glowing. He was holding the knife as if preparing to throw it at Lori. Despite not seeing him, Lori seemed to already know what was happening behind him, and he was smiling as he drank the tea. Nemma standed up and yelled; " Wait-! "
[ WOOSH ]
Knife flew through the air and aura trail was left behind it. It flew millimeters over Lori's head and sliced the fly cleanly into two. Knife proceeded to pass an inch from Nemma's left ear and hit the wall behind. Nemma gasped and turned around. Knife was stuck in the wall.
Lucas turned back around and took a second knife, he continued making a sandwich. Lori giggled and sipped some more tea. Nemma was expecting the man to be powerful since everyone compare him to Santiago, but this was.. shocking.
Nemma slowly sat back down and continued staring at Lucas. His appearance was hidden from bandages, but his height and build was about equal to Santiago. Everyone from this group was truly astonishingly build.
[ KNOCK KNOCK ]
A mere moment after the knock, door slammed open. It was Santiago, down the street behind him, Sion was running. Santiago jumped inside and yelled; " HAHA! I WIN! ". Sion entered moments later; " Shit! ".
Lori's eye twitched when he saw Santiago's injured body and sensed Sion's deeply damaged energy and mind.
" Have you two... " hs politely stood up and wiped his mouth with a handkerchief.. He then slammed his hands on the table; " HAD A RACE WHILE INJURED!? ". They looked at each other.
" No. "
" Yes. "
Lori took off his glasses and sat down, he rubbed his eyes from stress; " Sit down you morons! ".
Santiago took a few steps further and noticed Lucas. He smiled and raised his hand to greet him.. but stopped. His smile turned into a sad expression.
[ SLAM ]
A sandwich hit his face. Santiago looked up. Lucas was the one to throw it at him; " Stop-.. blaming yourself-.. ". Santiago looked at him for few moments, and crouched down. He picked up the sandwich and smiled; " Still bad at making food huh? ".
Sion walked into the room and greeted Nemma. He turned his look at Lucas. Just like everyone else, he was in possession of strong aura.
Lucas looked at Sion with a serious expression; " Who is-... this-.. kid? ". Sion raised his hand and a finger, he was about to start explaining, but Santiago interrupted; " He is.. a friend of ours, and an associate of our group. ". Sion looked at him with a confused expression. A friend? He never expected a guy like Santiago to say something like that for him.
Lucas nodded in confirmation. He finally made another sandwich. He used the knife to remove the crust and headed back upstairs while mumbled.
Lori stood up; " I should probably check up on him. ", he left the room and followed him while humming the usual melody.
Santiago and Sion sat down in the room, alongside Nemma. Sion told everything that happened on the mountain. At the end, he showed her the item he received.
" Woah.. SS Class, Sapphire ring! " she yelled. Santiago raised an eyebrow; " No it isn't.. " he said; " Sapphire ring is a drop from
She looked at him with somewhat provoking smile; " Eh yeah.. but this is a Sapphire ring, no doubt about it.. ".
He laughed; " I am a top class Hunter, I specialise in monsters and their drops. Sapphire ring can ONLY be received by slaying an SS Class Flame Dragon, not a Shapeshifter. " he explained.
" Top class Hunters still make mistakes,
Santiago raised an eyebrow; " Okay well... Sapphire ring increases power of fire attacks. Why would it be in possession of a ice type Shapeshifter then? " he asked her.
She was thinking a bit, then looked up with a face that obviously said she had a solution; " Santiago, is your magic... fire type? "
" It indeed is "
She nodded; " Then tell me... what's Sapphire rings second ability? "
" Huh? "
" It boosts fire abilities and-.. " she wanted him to say it.
His eyes widened; " ..and makes fire abilities less affective on you! Does that mean-? "
" Someone knew that you would attempt to defeat it, and armed the monster with a item that makes your abilities useless! ".
Two of them were looking at each other, they gave each other a high five. They looked at Sion.
His eye was twitching. His brain was overheating again, he had no clue what they talked about.
" But who would do that? " she asked.
" I don't know, no one was supposed to know I am living in this village. I would say it was my brother, but he wouldn't bother with such things just to harm me. I've stopped using fire abilities on it since they had no effect.. " he said.
" I never thought it would be a trap set up specially for me.. "