"No... ah... ahhh! AHHH!"
He cried as he watched plumes of smoke billow over several distant towns.
The scenery crashed down on him, and then it was silent.
Rargnes woke up in horror.
"Bad dream?" asked the Commander who had arrived at the entrance of his room - thank God they had several rooms, not like the farmers whose entire family resided in a hovel.
Fucking Middle Ages.
"I almost never dream," he replied as he got up painfully.
"Oh yeah? Have you ever consulted?" the Commander asked him mockingly.
He ignored the Commander's mockery and went towards Yurs, who was already ready.
"What do we have to do?"
"Several things, do you want to see Roaes or not? Otherwise, we will have presentations with the different companies in the area. They're not all available at the same time, so we'll ask."
Rargnes noticed that even Yurs' look had changed and that he had become much more social.
"Is it your boss who has magnified you?" he asked with a smile.
Yurs looked at him blinking and told him as if it was obvious: "No, it's just that there was no interest before."
Great.
"So... you're adapting to the situation?"
He nodded once.
Well, cool, he may also just tell him there's no interest in talking to him.
"I find you grumpy," said the Commander, to do nothing to alleviate his annoyance. Does he really think it's smart to mock him when the Commander has lost all his energy?
"So...? We go to see Roaes?"
"If you want."
***
'I know I'm the hero, I mean... I was the first. It all begins with me. That's why there's that fucking antagonist using this nightmare power against me,' thought the first Rargnes. 'The '4th' told us we weren't the king, but who else had unknown powers like all of us? We're damn special. We just need the time to become what we want. We can be anything.'
"We've finally found her. Your blessing must have been useful," a cheerful voice said.
Heze turned to Sengrar, who was closing the door with a stack of papers in his hands.
"Who is it?"
"A historian-diplomat, the wife of the former Commander. She was protected by some of her loyal followers who accompanied her for a long period of time. I'd say they're at least as strong as me."
"To that extent?"
"Yeah, and they know magic bullets too."
"Does the Commander know?"
"No, but he should suspect it if he did it in the last apocalypse. She'll be on the Commander's side... this story could be dangerous."
"Don't worry, he needs us, and it will create division between the commandant, the goblins, and the masked woman."
"Yeah... if you say so."
"And for that group, are they recovering tokens?"
"It's going okay, but we never have enough. All our members have at least improved their class once, but the wasteland is already starting to lose magic like the others. It might be hard to get any more tokens, even if they search the entire country."
'Do you feel that, Heszer? You've been a piece of shit with the third, and of the 4 last survivors of the 8, you have the worst situation. When you don't know how to drive, you don't offer to take the king somewhere. That trip was like your life: a failure. And you can't waste the king's energy. Well, you have less demerit than that atrocious master.'
He kidnapped him with the goblin and sent him to the fourth world so that his corpse would give him energy. That was an excellent way to recycle trash - torture was just a bonus. He still had to thank the goblins for their help with that matter, but thinking about it, they would certainly benefit from their reign, so it was only fair.
"Boss?"
A doctor came in.
"Hmmm?"
"It's time for your blood tests."
"I'm coming. Has everyone arrived?"' Heze said as he got up.
"The best we could find."
"Perfect. Have them seen by the Commander the next time he goes to accumulate energy."
"The doctors or the tests?"
"Both."
***
Rargnes regained his senses with a conversation he engaged in with a member of the team - his power was becoming more and more powerful, uncomfortable, uncontrollable. The conversation ended after a few minutes. There was only the peaceful, agricultural or natural landscape welcoming him.
He imagined here and there the billions of lives - certainly many more - who were killing each other. The imagined vision of an insect devouring another numbed him. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. The path opened onto a village where slaves and settlers were plowing the land.
Roaes welcomed them at the entrance with a smile.