William lay on a wooden cot, his face pallid and his body wracked with blood. He wasn't groaning or reacting. He was still and…almost dead.
Commander Cedric placed his palm on his heart, murmuring incantations. A soft, warm light emanated from his hands and enveloped the blonde's body. The rips in his shoulder began to close, and his breathing steadied.
"Will he be okay?" asked Philip.
"Hrm. Perhaps if you do not talk, my weary looking friend." The Commander's brow furrowed in concern. Kazi could feel a disturbance in the air. A shift. His healing spell, while working, did not manage to pierce whatever was ailing William.
'So weird. It's like I can feel magic all around me.' Kazi eyed the moustached man in black robes. He was strong but he got the feeling he wasn't absurdly strong, like Azrael.
Commander Cedric withdrew his hands, a deep worry etched on his face. He closed his eyes briefly, focusing his energy, and then invoked another spell.
"Heaven's Resurgence!"
A brilliant and intense light bathed everything in a holy glow. Then, a shrieking sound pierced them and forced them to cover their ears.
'What the hell!?'
Marta let out a squeal beside him, and Sun-young flinched and closed her eyes. Even the knights weren't prepared for the sound, nor the sight. The darkness. Frankly, Kazi wasn't sure what he was seeing. Some sort of dark, evil soul writhed out of his head through his ears, nose, and eyes. The commander tightened as he flooded his holy power inside him.
The world went white, then settled.
The dark oppressive force dissolved into ethereal wisps until it vanished entirely. Commander Cedric's healing spell had prevailed.
William didn't wake up, but the colour in his complexion visibly returned. The cracks once corrupting him were gone. Kazi approached him and felt his forehead.
"He's cooling down." Marta smiled and looked at Kazi warmly. "W-we did it!"
"You mean I did it." Commander Cedric whipped out a napkin and cleaned his temple. He was sweating, badly. His eyes were slightly red and his cheek bones appeared narrow. "That, haah, took more out of me than I thought. What in the world happened to him?"
Nobody could answer it. They didn't remember, their memories blurred from the whirlwind of events. The battle, the blood, and the desperation to live and escape.
"We fought a creature called a Wendigo." All but him forgot, because Kazi Hossain never forgets. "Does that ring any bells?"
"The Wendigo? Can't say I've heard of it."
"Is the current gate a fight against this foe?" asked Philip.
No. The error signs and the out of bounds territory they entered was not intended to include the Wendigo. But would they believe him? Would it be right to tell them? "Sort of. The Gate was called the Shadow Hall. It wasn't combat-based, not really. A bunch of arrows flew at us and you had to dodge."
Philip grew curious. "So how did you encounter this beast?"
"We were breaking walls to find treasure chests when we found it," Kazi explained. "What do you think?"
"Hm. It is a little strange. You haven't reached gate ten yet. Something complicated like this shouldn't—"
Commander Cedric slammed his boot down. "Silence, Philip. These are still outsiders."
"Who need as much help as they need," Phillip shot back. "And we of the Templar Order are the most honourable, the most noble, the most courteous, the most honest and the most chivalrous."
"But not at the expense of the Order itself," the Commander replied. "We have a code."
Philip drew in a breath and turned to Kazi and Marta, then Sun-young. An apology was written all over him.
"Aren't you curious about the creature?" Philip tried.
"We will have our members returning for reports soon. I will hear it then. Philip, take these intruders out—or else."
Before Kazi could speak, he heard a whistle and chippery, metallic footsteps. Fluttering into the office was a fur cloak and a woman bearing the soft, weathered lines of a commoner who had spent her days under the open sky.
The armless black tunic resembled the Commander's, except the fabric was twice as beautiful and the red cross glowed with a magical tint. The chainmail running across her arms was a distinct black tint too. The red fur around the woman's shoulders and the cloak accompanying it was the stuff of dreams. A demonstration of monetary value and power beyond understanding.
"Hello~!" The woman grinned and greeted everyone with a nod, till she reached Sun-young. "Wow, you are a tall gal! Is she a new recruit? Where's her uniform?"
"Marshal Margaret." Commander Cedric lowered his head and put an arm forward in respect. "These are outsiders. I was merely escorting them out."
"Oh?" She tilted her head. Her skin carried a warm, golden hue, and her cascade of chestnut waves was pulled back into a practical bun with stray wisps framing the woman's face. "Why are outsiders here? What's going on?"
"An injury," Commander Cedric answered. "On account of Father Philip."
He gestured to the man like a scapegoat. Marshal Margaret nodded in appreciation.
"I do not always understand you, Father Philip, but if you believe these outsiders needed our help, then I shall accept." The Marshal, to the Commander's surprise, lowered her head. After that, it was back to Sun-young. "Now, you! You are tall and strong. Come under my command. You have the eye of a warrior, I can see that much."
"Woah, woah, woah. Sun-young is mine. She's not going anywhere just yet." Kazi looked at her. "At least I hope so."
There was a moment of hesitation. An instinct where she contemplated his words and their meaning. As if she might have actually wanted to join the Templar Order. But the hesitation lasted for but an instant. "Yes. I'm not leaving my friends."
"Is that right? Then why was your team so desperate for help, Sir?"
Marshal Margaret was speaking to him directly, her gaze stronger than a hundred predators. If it had been any other man, they would have crumbled. Succumbed to their nerves and stammered. But fear was not an emotion Kazi felt. It did not exist in his consciousness—in his world.
He walked his life helping people without fear and he would continue to do that proudly.
"Because they needed it, that's why."
"Is this your first time leading a party? A team?" the Marshal asked.
"No."
"What I meant to say was—your first time leading a team into combat?"
"No."
The Marshal blinked in surprise. "Oh."
"I appreciate what you and your Order have done for William, but please don't project yourself on me. This isn't a teaching moment. Sometimes, you go up against walls that are simply beyond you and there's no qualm or reason for it."
A mousy laugh erupted from Philip. "Haha, agree to disagree then. People can accomplish anything, so long as they have faith."
William was strong and technically made no mistakes. It wasn't his fault the Wendigo switch to ice attacks from the lake. Kazi might have anticipated it to an extent. However, not everyone was him.
"Hm." Marshal Margaret's smile didn't wave. "I see. You have a good leader, it seems—err, what is your name?"
Sun-young hesitated again. "...Sun-young."
"Word of advice: if you survive Gate 10 and realize your weakness, then there is no shame in coming here."
"Gate 10?" Sun-young questioned.
"That is when, as you modern people say, shit hits the fan." The Marshal broke into a grin. "You'll see. You'll see."
A loud groan and a shift. It was William. His eyes were opening up and his legs stretched. Kazi and Marta were already by his side, helping him up.
"Yo!" Kazi laughed. "You're alright!"
"Y-you are okay, right?"
He didn't seem to hear Marta and focused on getting up. "Ngh…" The blonde could barely sit up straight. Groans escaped his lips, the pain stretching up his back and shoulders. "What happened? I got bit and…did we win?"
"We did," Sun-young confirmed. She leaned down, a hand on Kazi's shoulder for support, and smiled. "But more importantly, we're glad you're okay."
William looked at them, surprised by the tenderness in her words. "I-I must have really…"
"It was close for a while," said Kazi. "But you made it. And trust me, that's all that matters."
***
To say he had been close to death was understatement. William was so weak after the matter that he could barely walk. It was as if his muscles had decided to restart. Judging by his level of weakness and the healing factor of the Game System, Kazi estimated it would take two or three days for his strength to return.
William teleported to his home to rest with Marta joining him in case of an emergency. That left Kazi and Sun-young and he could tell she wanted to say something to him. The pinkness of Hestia's Hearth Café brought a pleasant ambience that Kazi predicted would break.
Her eyes and brows were deeply knitted and she drank her iced americano with the gusto of a tragic widow. "You saved us again."
He ran a hand through his messy hair, smiling thinly. "I wouldn't say that. You contributed as much as I did."
Sun-young stopped to drink. "You're my friend, Kazi. William is, too, and for the entire time, I'll be honest, I was scared. I thought we were going to die. That thing was…" She shuddered. "It felt like if I blinked, it would have killed me."
Kazi remembered his own goosebumps. If it was bad for him, then he could only imagine how terrible it was for Sun-young.
Yes, he could only imagine, because unfortunately, he couldn't relate to the fleeting emotion known as fear. He tip-toed past her praises by grabbing a drink for himself: a double-double coffee.
"You're not good at taking compliments," Sun-young stated.
"I used to be." Kazi laughed to himself. "Not anymore. I've gotten old."
She put her drink down and looked at him. It was the first time she had ever looked at him. Her dark eyes were fierce and slightly wild from fear. But then her lips curled into the softest smile he had ever seen and her eyes softened. "From the bottom of my heart, thank you. I owe you a lot. We owe you a lot."
'I…didn't realize we meant so much to her.'
A small smile crossed Kazi. "I feel as though I should be apologizing. I led us to that situation."
"Because I couldn't hold off the arrows," Sun-young rebutted.
"Ha. Good point." Kazi leaned back, coffee in hand. "I suppose taking the blame is useless. Thank you, Ms. Sun-young. I'm glad that it's you and William that are with me. I couldn't ask for better friends."
Her eyes fluttered and she looked back down at the table. Her smile mirrored his, small and tender.