Some time later, Zyro found himself talking with a slime inside Raven.
"I knew I literally kidnapped you, but don't worry. I will take care of you from now on. And hey, this place is much better than the dim Mine." Said Zyro as he put the guardian soul core in a secure box. He stood up, then looked at Cat, the slime. It's currently placed on a platform above the controls, near the starship pilot window.
His tone was a little sad when he added.
"Besides... Pert can no longer take care of you."
Saying that, Zyro sat down and started Raven again. Its wings unfolded before producing force that sent it hovering. With skillful maneuvering, Raven rises to the night sky, leaving the rustling wilderness behind.
Soon, Raven was floating above the clouds, with its dark wings spread out. Like a black, four winged dragon overlooking the sea of clouds.
Zyro was seated on his comfy in a daze for a few moments, his gaze lost.
His a free man now, but didn't know what to do. Rather, his reluctant to do anything. The recent days had been busy and painful for him, with a touch of sorrow. Zyro challenging escaped from Highland, followed by trials and failures of attempting to be free from Foggy Ring before reaching this conclusion. Where he stood high above the clouds, free to do whatever he wanted.
No torturous cage will torment him anymore, or shackles will ever force him to work on dim caverns.
That said, obtaining what he has now isn't easy.
Beneath his success was failures, which included him being unable to save his friend. And be left alone by the girl he trust. Under that were the arduous labor he did as a shackled miner and dread of facing monstrous abomination in the wilderness, coupled with the hostility of Gricks towards him.
'I'm tired...'
After experiencing all that to reach this point, Zyro can finally relax a little. Not knowing what to do.
Eventually, he sighed and leaned back. Gazing at the nebular sky full of glittering stars.
The sight before him was breathtaking to many, if only it wasn't so common in this world. Even Zyro, was no longer mesmerized by such a spectacular view of the nebular sky.
Deciding he at least deserves to rest, Zyro dismissed his gloomy thoughts and simply looked at Cat. Transparent in color, extremely slow motion that it seemed just a blob of slime devoid of life.
The useless slime was his now because of its previous owner passing. But why keep such a worthless creature around? Even the warm-hearted Pert left it in the Mine due to its meaninglessness.
Zyro was not sure himself. He just picked it up when he visited the Mine earlier before his departure from Foggy Ring. Seeing it reminded him of Pert, and the young Aster last words to him.
In Pert's last breath, he said that Zyro misunderstood the meaning of living. One of the promises he upheld to a certain homeless elder that raised him was to "live no matter the odds" it also implies living to the fullest.
Which is why he had been doing whatever he could to live another day.
That said, Pert's final words made him reconsider the meaning of living. It didn't take long for him to understand what the kid meant. Indeed, he really misunderstood the real meaning of living. Because almost all his life, Zyro was simply avoiding death.
Struggling to find food and safety by all means to see tomorrow isn't living... It's surviving.
Zyro had been surviving this entire time, doing whatever it takes to live another day. Only then did he realize what his adopted grampa truly wished for him.
It's not simply coming of every perils alive, but to be alive, truely. Not physically alone. His foster grampa probably wanted him to grow up, find a job he enjoyed and a woman to loved. Built a home for his family, have kids, watch them grown and die happily with no regrets.
That's probably what living in body, soul and mind is like. The life his grampa wanted him to have.
Sadly, Zyro was led astray by the circumstances. To continue breathing, he was forced to become a soldier. A harsh occupation that takes life, where you either kill or be killed. Perhaps the endless bloodshed made him forget the real meaning of life, because in his hellish life, surviving was the only way.
Eventually, the cruel fate drifted him into another planet with no way of coming back. Forever lost from home.
Thankfully, Pert reminded him of living. However, although it's easy to explain by some sunny description of a fulfilling livelihood. Zyro did not really understand it himself, because he haven't experienced it.
He had friends but all of them are gone now.
Furthermore, his only true friend just died recently and the last lady he meet abandoned him. It that counted as living?
Maybe... After all, pain is part of life. To be alive, one has to suffer the sorrow of failures before savoring the joy of life. Zyro was indignant to that statement, for he had suffered a lot yet saw no lasting joy, as of date. However, he had no choice but to believe again.
So, as starters. Zyro got himself a pet he named Cat even though it's a useless slime. Hoping to form a deep bond with the worthless creature and led him to learn the art of living.
That's why Zyro is talking to Cat. It was awkward at first, but he quickly got used to it. Strangely, he feels comfortable conversing with the slime. Mainly because it doesn't speak, react or leave. Because it's incapable of doing so.
Cat was a good listener.
Bored, Zyro suddenly thought of something.
"I just remembered I actually have those things in the back." He rose from his seat and grabbed Cat, the slime is soft and small enough to be handled by one hand.
"Wanna see something cool?"
Of course, Cat did not reply but Zyro took its silence as a yes.
Soon, Zyro was pointing at a bunch of alloy storage boxes with Cat on his right hand.
"See these things here? If you have eyes in that body of yours, that is... Anyway, inside these boxes are some really nasty stuff. Trust me, human tech's are no joke. In your world, these things are like mass produce relics. Cool, right?"
Zyro then opened one of the black containers with a silver rim. As the chest roof rose, trapped preservation gasses came out. When the mists subsided, the item within is revealed.
Inside the case was a portable military drone, its propellers are folded accompanied by additional components of the full set arranged neatly. Raven was a ship for galactic travel, therefore, possess expedition kits to aid Zyro navigate extraterrestrial planets.
The military drone was merely a part of his expedition kit, yet this alone is a flying weapon itself.
"The latest portable rotorcraft, Assault Drone. But it's called Sightseer, for short. Not only does it support long distance vision transfer, it also has mini guns installed. More importantly, it has an invisibility feature. With this baby, I have an invisible, flying scout of my own."
He muttered.
"There're other related expedition kits, but those items are more practical than this one. So let's skip those and move on to the main dish."
He then closed the case and unbox another one nearby. This one was long, rectangular in shape.
When he opened it, Zyro's eyes glistened.
Inside was a gun, but not just any gun.
"MPF - Spearhead. Also known as Multi Purpose Firearm. Damn, never I'll see this masterpiece again."
Spearhead is an ultimate gun because it's capable of transforming into a long range sniper, rapid fire rattling gun, devastating close range shotgun, and automatic rifle. It's basically all in one. Furthermore, the gun has a heat blade on its front to act as a spear in close range combat.
This firearm is a commodity for STELLAR soldiers due to its adaptability in whatever challenge they may face in the galaxy.
Zyro gets on and on describing how impressive spearhead is to the speechless slime. Eventually, he got tired and shifted to a particular container. This one are big enough to fit an adult man inside, and appeared to be made to do so.
He had no need to guess what's inside because the a label was printed on its front.
It read.
Iron Breaker.
It's a brand new suit made especially for combat, unlike Shroud of Night. Which is Zyro's preferred suit, but wasn't meant for rough environments. He simply wears it as a uniform back in STELLAR. On the other hand, Iron Breaker are a real combat suit with a more robust structure, tougher platings and superior exoskeleton frames that use artificial muscle fibers for explosive empowerment of the wielder.
"Would you look at that, I got myself a new armor. Wanna see it?"
He eyed Cat, which expectedly didn't say anything. It just stayed in his hand like dead object. Still, Zyro felt somehow satisfied with is indifferent response.
It allowed his thoughts to wonder.
Zyro touched the box, reluctant to open it.
"A new suit of armor for the Fallen Knight... No, the Fallen Knight would probably disappear along Shroud of Night. I really like this suit, you know. Because It's the armor the Gricks dreaded and Pert had known me for."
Then, he shook his head with a sigh. "But I can't make the broken pieces new again. So there's that."
Zyro walked to the hatch which opened at his will. Letting him see the sea of clouds bathed in pale blue moonlight. Over it was the nebular dark sky full of glittering stars. Amidst this dreamy scenery was Highland, the root-lifted island of Gricks crowning a circular plalace, where the crimson tree towered above it's alabaster walls.
Under it is a land surrounded by a Great Wall of Fog hiding the ancient Serpent remains.
His eyes lingered on the seemingly tiny mountain where the Mine is located, then at Log Wall and the surrounding forest he once ventured. And where he met Scarlet.
She's a sad yet pleasant memory for him. Her care in their journey felt so real, to the point Zyro fell for it. However, it wouldn't changed what she had done.
Thinking of the princess, his attention drifted on the midnight kingdom of vampires. Her castle nested under the shadow of Highland, accompanied by the collosal roots sprouts. Scarlet was probably there, or still making her way to her home.
Zyro had mixed for Scarlet. It felt strange... To loath her for betraying him, at the same time, hope for her wellbeing despite that.
Shrugging, Zyro made his way forward until he reach the platform edge.
The cold breeze of the night sky brushed his messy black hair, it's chilling wind touched his pale face.
His gaze, lost.
Only now did he realize Zyro never had a place to call home.
After a while, Zyro sat down on the open hatch. His armored legs dangling from abyssal fall, so high that it touches the clouds beneath his feet.
Staring at a distance, he said casually.
"Wouldn't it be nice to have a castle as home? Just look how big that palace is. Oh, I'll have you known, I once entered the castle of Highland once. They chased me away as soon as I entered, though... Now that I think about it, my home planet doesn't feel like home, either. My parents dump me in a garbage so I don't have a family, let alone, a home there. And you can say I'm a rat in society on my planet, dirty creatures that feed on others scrubs to survive. Life is hard there for rats like me, to live more, i had to become a soldier against my will and kill as they told. Eventually, I ended up here. I guess Earth somehow chased me away, too."
Zyro leaned forward, holding the slime with both hands as he viewed the entirety of Foggy Ring.
"And now, I'm leaving this place behind. Don't ask why, Foggy Ring is literally shunning me, as well. I was hunted by the Gricks the moment I woke up in this damned place. And even though I met a friend here... They took him away. The princess of this place abandoned me. Do Foggy Ring hate me that much?" He eyed Cat. "Or am I just unlucky?"
Hearing no reply, obviously. Zyro sighed.
"In any case... You'll be coming with me. We are both homeless imp, after all.
After a while, he asked absentmindedly.
"Any place you want to go?"
To his surprise, Cat showed a reaction.
The tiny dot within its transparent body moved forward slightly.
Zyro traced where Cat is pointing coincidentally, and frowned. In front of them is Foggy Ring, a place he learned to abhor. However, he soon saw the faint glow of a far away flames through the white clouds. A warm light coming somewhere passed Foggy Ring.
He remembered what produced that warm radiance. It's said to be the holy tree of Helios, that burned forever even till this day.
A twisted smile found its way onto Zyro's lips. Standing up, he voiced with anticipation as he turned around to his seat.
"To The Burning City, then."
The radiant flames of the Burning City of Arden amidst the ashen desert await him.
Volume One End: Lost Wanderer.