"It's still night and I am sure you must be tired so it would be better to get some sleep first," Sasha advised after she watched the crowd disperse to go back to sleep on Krentis's orders.
"You can all make acquaintances in the morning," he had said as he himself went back to retire for the night after wishing the same to Yve and Aksel.
Aksel wasn't satisfied with the information that Krentis gave him. He wanted to know more about the world that the experienced Rues had known. He didn't want to believe what he had been told by him but he knew that there was a high possibility that he was right.
His own memories had refreshed at this speculation of his host as he remembered studying the geographical names of the countries that he had learned along with their capitals. Novus had then been mentioned as the capital of Borras.
"Alright let's do that but where are we supposed to sleep?" Yve asked as she stifled a yawn from taking over her. The rush of the adrenaline high that they had been running on for the last hour or two had all been exhausted and she could feel her legs screaming at her to give them rest.
"Renee will guide you to your bunker room," Sasha said signaling Renee to take her, and then switching her gaze to Aksel she said, "Mort here will guide you to the men's bunker."
Yve nodded at Aksel as she followed Renee who noticed his gaze on them and winking she said, "Do you want to maybe join us in the woman's room? There is not much space but the two of us can share a bed."
Her words immediately made Aksel feel uncomfortable and even though he had a feeling or he hoped it was a correct feeling, that she was just joking, he cringed inside at the seductive looks she had given him at the end.
He wanted to ignore her completely but before he could turn around to simply leave he felt a hand on his shoulder laxly hang down as Mort's towering height loomed over him and said, "Keep your dirty paws away from him dirty Renee. Aksel here is my newest bud and I am not going to let you torment him as you do to others."
That was nice of him to say that but Aksel felt equally uncomfortable at this suddenly forced friendship on him.
Renee whose attention had now been diverted away from him scowled at the shaggy-haired Rues and said, "Will you stop making me seem like an evil person to every new Rues that comes!"
"Well Krentis was the one who told me to be careful of you so…" the guy, half seriously and half playfully left his words hanging in the air and Aksel noticed that this goof was the only person who seemed to likely get under Renee's skin.
"He was JOKING!" she thundered and grabbing onto Yve's hand she left first going through the first tunnel on the left looking thoroughly pissed.
"You saw that right? That's how she really is, it would be better to stay away from her," Mort mumbled as he let go of Aksel from the side hug that he had kept him in, and walking towards the last tunnel on the right he motioned for him to follow.
Aksel silently stepped into the lighted tunnel noticing that it consisted of doors on either side that were probably rooms that were occupied by people. When they arrived in front of one such door Mort stopped and opening it he revealed a small bunker room that consisted of a double-decker bed.
It wasn't anything like the luxurious bed he had in his memories but it was still better than what he had in Aquilo. Placing his bag down on the side of the room he observed the clean rectangle boxed space that he was to stay in.
The lower bed had a blanket on it and even a few other gimmicks that told him that it was already taken by someone else.
"Welcome to our room, my new roomie!" Mort rejoiced, bending down to pull out a steel box from under the bed, and opening it he pulled out a thin blanket and placed it on Aksel's bed above him.
Aksel didn't feel as happy as Mort at that revelation but when he noticed how genuinely happy and caring he was towards him he felt slightly guilty and when he noticed the smile with which he was greeted he couldn't help but grin himself as he said, "Thank you."
Maybe if it had been some other time when Aksel wasn't as tired as he was right now then he would have given him a more enthusiastic response and most probably he would have liked to stay around such a loud and entertaining person but his body was riding on overdrive now.
All he wanted to do was to sleep.
And hopefully, find something more interesting about the Branding System and the world tomorrow.
The room was merely seven feet in length and around five feet in breadth. There was therefore barely any space left for them to stand together after the beds and sighing Aksel was about to excuse himself to retire for the night when he noticed something glinting in the corner of their beds where a little space was left.
There was a long scabbard there that was resting against the grey colorless walls. It was completely black that looked like it was made of leather while a metallic handle wrapped in layers of thin black leather strips was jutting out of it.
Mort noticed his line of sight falling on his sword and taking it he offered it for Aksel to see. Aksel felt the fire of curiosity burn within him again as he hesitantly took the sword in his hand. He had never once touched it before often only reading about it as historic weapons in his younger classes.
It was therefore really enthralling for him to touch one.
He reckoned that if he had been given to see the scabbard then he could peek a look by unsheathing the sword a little bit and slowly pulling it out he had to temporarily close his eyes at the glow that radiated off it.
'What was it made of?'
He wondered because the greenish material didn't exactly look like the silver swords that he had learned about in his schools.
He was about to ask Mort about it when a knock on their door garnered their attention towards the distraction and taking the sword Mort kept it back in its place as he opened the door.
A man that Aksel hadn't been acquainted with yet stood there as he nodded at him once and then brought his attention back to Mort and said, "Sorry if I disturbed you I just saw your room lights were on and wanted to remind you that it is your turn to go with the others to fetch the supplies."
"What? Seriously? Yes! Thanks for reminding me," Mort exclaimed and the man barely shook his head and walked down the corridor probably back to his room.
On receiving this new news Aksel asked, "Where do you have to go?"
"Oh there is this forest close by that we loot often to bring back our ration supplies," Mort replied and Aksel felt his eyes widen at the information.
Was he talking about the same forest where he had been stationed with Yve before?
He was curious and since he wasn't the one who could sate or suppress his curiosity on his own, he said, "If it is not a lot of trouble can I accompany you tomorrow?"