Chapter 27 - A Little Trust
Luke was beginning to fall into a routine as the days passed. He began to understand better the two people who accompanied him in this cursed and corrupted place.
Among the three of us, Anna is definitely the most talkative and cheerful. She lifts our spirits when we tend to isolate ourselves. I value that; having someone who can do that is definitely the best thing in a situation like this. She seems younger than me, but she's no less smart for it. I don't know if she did it on purpose, but in many moments when both I and the robot Alice were silently thinking, she appeared to talk or offer something to do.
If Anna is this extroverted amid this catastrophic situation, she must be a person with many friends in her normal life. Anyone can be her friend, and she has a unique kind of magic that makes it feel like you've known each other for a long time. It somehow soothes and breaks down any barrier that might be there.
She's also the one most susceptible to emotional damage, even though she acts as the group's emotional support. It's a bit funny that she tries to give us emotional support, and her power reflects exactly that—her nurturing nature. Because of this, I know she tries to hide her worries, but she's easy to read.
Someone who is very extroverted and cheerful can easily reveal their emotional state when they swing to the opposite pole. The little redhead is strong in many ways, but in this, I have to admire her. I'm not a very... normal person, and neither is Alice. Anna is someone who really is common and was caught up in this confusion, thrown into a death zone, but even so, she doesn't seem to have given up.
"Can you help me? I'm still learning to build this type of campfire…" she asked.
"Of course, Little Anna. What are you unsure about?" Luke asks.
"Little Anna?"
Oops!
Luke coughed falsely.
"This is a standard campfire…" he continued, trying to cover his slip, "a campfire that needs a circle of stones and dry branches, leaves are also important. You also need a reserve to feed the fire," Luke explained to Anna.
The girl paid close attention. She knew the basics of survival, but much was just theory that hadn't been taught practically at the Earth Academy. They were supposed to go through this learning process as the year went on.
"Hmm…" she observed as Luke and Alice approached to help.
"Starting the fire is best practiced. You can't always count on Luke's torch for these situations."
The little redhead looked disappointed.
"I wish I had one…"
"Alice, summon a torch," Luke recalled that she had placed a torch next to him when they first met.
"You also have a torch card?"
"I do… although it's just a common torch. If it goes out, you can only light it again, and the fire consumes it. The advantage is that if you light it, you can summon it lit again."
Another piece of knowledge I didn't know. So, at least my torch has that advantage. My initial items weren't that bad after all… though I wouldn't have minded receiving a good sword. I wonder if Alice's sword came from her initiation?
They spent the day learning a bit of other techniques. Even Alice stopped to teach how to skin an animal without damaging it so it could be reused.
In this world, society is medieval, so I presume they make use of even the skins of these corrupted animals. Although I know a bit of the basics and even advanced survival skills, I didn't have training in skinning animals. In Earth, a poor person doesn't have access to such meat, much less come close to it and take survival classes.
Observing the two working on the campfire, he saw Anna trying to light it using the dry stick method.
Alice is like a robot—mysterious but seemingly trustworthy. Both girls seem like good people, as far as I can tell. I need to be good to those who are good and harsh to those who aren't, so I appreciate their qualities. But that doesn't mean they're trustworthy. I would never trust anyone with my life. We've only been together for a few days; initial impressions don't mean anything. I don't trust people...
Luke let these thoughts fade away and focused on practicing his intangibility.
Alice is almost like a robot; she even shocks people. Her personality makes her quiet, similar to me. She's also someone with few expressions. Yesterday, I saw her say the meat was good, but her face didn't match her words. I understand that's just how she is.
I hope I can go home soon... I have rent to pay and a job to keep. What a brilliant idea, Lucan, to leave without telling anyone... not that many people would care. My only regular visitor was a stray cat... well, there's also that one person who cares about me, but even they respected my space and never came over uninvited.
Anna:
I'm so glad I found these two in this horrible place. I'd be completely lost and probably dead by now. Having them here gives me motivation and hope. We have defined steps to take, a routine of tasks, and even time set aside for each of us to train with our weapons or prana.
Among the three of us, Luke is definitely the least experienced with using prana. He's a Dissident like me, so I know the barrier to start using prana is higher. He's just an Initiate and is only considered a true Deviant if he can at least increase his gem's grade. As a Dissident, it'll take him even longer to develop his prana core. I want to help him more, but Luke is quite serious. I tried talking to him in the forest… but ended up startling him when I saw him with a hammer. I know he didn't mean any harm, but I felt embarrassed for screaming…
I'll create another opportunity to help him, or maybe he'll come to us with more questions. There's so much he needs to know that I don't even know where to start. He's also very limited by the Dissident's deficiency, so one of the first steps is to help him overcome this barrier. I've seen he's already learned to use his initial ability, which is great. Unlike others, we Dissidents have a greater mastery over our initial ability... but the problem is that our prana settles in the core and doesn't develop into channels throughout our body. He needs to start working on overcoming this deficiency... I hope someone from the expedition finds a safe place so we can practice more comfortably.
From what I understand, the Captain and the others are somewhere in the tunnels, clearing the area... they must be following the signs left behind. It's too dangerous for us to go there now, especially with multiple entrances. They may have sealed off parts, and we could end up in a dangerous area unknowingly. We'll have to trust that they can establish themselves in the tunnel and send more people out again. We need to keep walking around the area, looking for other survivors... I really hope we find some, because I don't want to go into the sewers without knowing which parts are safe.