Chapter 483 - Annoying little jerks

Passing through the destroyed gate, we find ourselves on an empty street framed by equally empty buildings. If the 6th floor had more greenery, I’m sure the fort and buildings would be covered by it, but as of now, it’s all just broken down. There are no signs of any life other than the mana signature on one of the streets, so we head right in that direction.

In the air around us, I sense an intricate mana web with functions I haven’t seen before. Examining it a bit, there are plenty of detection interferences that ring right away as I touch the web. Some others are to stop tracking, some defenses, and parts serving for quick deployment of secondary webs and more.

While I study it, we reach the crossroads of two streets, where Sophie sits on a boulder against which a single dried-up tree rests. It’s the only sign of any greenery as far as I can see, and the tree’s branches move almost like a living being as Sophie’s mana flows through it—something she likely does to pass the time.

Sophie looks the same as the last time I saw her. Slightly shorter than me and a bit younger. Her green eyes are noticeable even in the dusk, as well as her tanned skin.

She wears luxurious clothes—a long black robe layered over a finely embroidered tunic. The robe itself is richly adorned, trimmed in silver threads with subtle, elaborate patterns that shimmer faintly in the low light. Plenty of them seem to be highly mana-conductive, and I’m sure these clothes offer more defenses than some upper epic armors I’ve seen.

“Please, don’t mess with my web, Nat,” are the first words she says.

“I’m examining it, not messing with it. If you’re nice, I’ll show you ways to improve it.”

“At this point, I’m sure I’m better at this than you are, so if you’re nice to me, I’ll let you examine it and maybe explain things you won’t understand.”

"Sophie, please don’t. He’ll deploy some of his arrays and end up bleeding his brain out of his nose just to modify it and win this challenge," Dennis sighs beside me, and I feel him adding Sophie to our link so we can all communicate telepathically if needed.

“You can talk about it later,” Lily jumps in before I can answer and rushes in, taking Sophie into a hug. “I’m so happy to see you!”

Sophie seems surprised for a moment, almost like she doesn’t know what to do, but then she slowly closes her arms around Lily and hugs her back.

“I’m also glad you guys are fine. How did you do?”

“We just killed one of the prisoners from the Containment Cells!”

“I… I see.” Sophie’s eyes land on me with a suspecting expression.

Feeling the need to defend myself, I hold Biscuit out in front of me at arm’s length. "Look, we went down there with the best intentions, but you wouldn’t want a psychopathic, telepathic, super-regenerating deer running around freely. And it was this little jerk who finished him off."

“Can I hold him?” Instead of asking about the Containment Cell, Sophie asks.

“No, he’s mine.”

Sophie continues without missing a beat, as if she hadn’t just asked that. “What happened to him? Is he okay?”

“Yup, as okay as he could be. He seems healthier than before and stronger; he just shrunk. Lily thinks it’s some evolution. I think it’s because of overextending his abilities, Aaron thinks it’s like a phoenix growing anew from his ashes, and Dennis said it’s somehow my fault.”

“If you hand him to me, I could check…”

“No, he’s mine.”

"Nat, just give me the goddamn adorable corgi puppy."

“You have a really scary expression on your face right now.”

Instead of answering, Sophie smiles wide and laughs shortly. Unlike a few minutes ago, this expression feels more real and relaxed. Meeting with people after not seeing them for months can be awkward. Even though you spent a lot of time with them before, it still feels a bit off and takes a short while for things to return to how they used to be.

“I’m glad you guys are fine. I didn’t realize…” Sophie starts but then stops in the middle of the sentence and shakes her head, the smile still on her face.

Lily then pulls her, and they both sit on the boulder, the twins standing nearby as the two of them exchange information. Nothing too important for now; for that, we are waiting for the others.

While they talk, I return to examining Sophie’s web and join it as she grants me access. Even while she's chatting with Lily and the twins, she notices whenever I start making improvements. Each time, she quickly removes my changes, restoring her original version. She clearly doesn’t agree that my adjustments are improvements, but I persist, tweaking and modifying in response to her edits.

We continue like this while waiting for the others to join us.

***

Tess, Maya, and Min-Jae join us a few hours later. While I’m sure Tess and Min-Jae could fly if they wanted, they walk, passing through the broken gate and empty streets the same way we did.

Tess is the first to enter the crossroads, her confident stride faltering for a brief moment when she spots Sophie, but she continues forward nonetheless.

There is a white and red lightning crown floating over her head, and her golden hair is now short-ish, barely reaching her shoulders, with bangs falling to her forehead and wavy hair framing her face.

She is wearing a fitted, light metallic gray armor, and five javelins float behind her back, each seemingly made of different material. Without any gesture from her, they stab themselves into the ground and stay there.

Tess stops in front of Sophie, her expression finally changing as she takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” she says, addressing her and then also Lily and the twins. She then stops and waits.

I’m sure she could say more—she’s good at these kinds of things. She could explain herself, make the apology longer and more heartfelt, and try to explain her behavior, yet she has chosen not to, relying on these few words to convey her feelings.

Somewhat awkwardly, Sophie looks away. “It’s fine.”

These words make Tess very happy, and for a moment, I’m sure her gray eyes are slightly wet before she blinks a few times and rushes to hug all of them.

“No apology to me?” I ask while they’re all hugging.

“Screw you, Nat,” she calls to me and continues to squeeze the life out of Lily.

When she’s done, she stops in front of me as well, a big smile on her face. The words she says to me are different from the ones she said to the others. “Thank you.” With that, she hugs me as well, careful not to squish Biscuit, who I still hold in my arms.

As she lets go, she tries to inconspicuously pull Biscuit away from me, but I don’t let go.

Tess seems disappointed as she stares at the cute pup in my arms. “What happened?”

“He ate too much.”

“Too many biscuits?” Next to her, Min-Jae laughs. But seeing no one joins, he laughs again, this time a bit more awkwardly.

He is also wearing armor similar to Tess’s—gray, light, and metallic. As always, his hair seems to be messy and a bit longer than it used to be. Underneath, his left eye is still yellow.

He notices me looking at it. “A few months ago, it became stronger, and I think I almost died.” There’s a smile on his face as he says this and continues in a whisper only I can hear, “And guess who also has Primordial energy now?”

“You?” I ask.

Maya, while hugging Sophie, shouts in my direction, with Tess already nearby. “Nat, did Kim already tell you about his new fancy primordial energy? You guys have been talking for five seconds, so it’s highly likely.”

“He’s told me three times already. Did you start talking to me because you want to return the claymore I rented to you?”

Surprisingly, Maya becomes too busy and returns to friendly chat with Lily. Even Maya is wearing armor similar to Tess and Min-Jae’s, and on her back is Bloodthirst, the damaged weapon mentioned. It might be just me, but the claymore looks a bit redder and less damaged.

As for Maya, I can sense something weird from her that is hard to describe. I guess I will have to try to find out later. The dagger on her waist also looks interesting, and unlike the others, there is a short leather cape on the back of her armor, barely reaching her waist.

Everyone seems to have picked up a thing or two.

“Nat, don’t your arms hurt? If you want, I can hold Biscuit for a while?” Min-Jae asks carefully.

“It’s fine.”

“Are you sure? I could…”

“It’s fine. Aren’t you taller?”

“You noticed? Just a bit more, and I’ll be taller than Maya! I’ve also put on some muscle—look!” He flexes his bicep. “I never had this much before. Maya gave me a great routine that I stick to. Did you know she was a personal trainer? And apparently, a really good one. But don’t tell her I complimented her.”

“We’ll need to do some testing to see how much working out influences strength and if there is a difference between a muscular body and a non-muscular one when the stats are the same. I’m also curious if the stats are changing our bodies and making them look more fit.” I note as the thought comes to mind.

Min-Jae hesitates for a bit but then shakes his head and smiles. “It feels like we never split. I’m glad.”

“It was just a few months.”

“That’s a pretty long time, Nat, but... I guess I’ll have to go and talk to Aaron and Dennis…” He waves off and goes to the side where the twins already awkwardly stand and wait.

To avoid being overwhelmed by all the greetings, I move in front of one of the broken houses and form a manabloc chair, sitting on it carefully. I fix the blanket around Biscuit so only his tiny head pokes out and boop his nose just once. It’s softer and smaller, but it’s the same cold and slightly wet feeling.

It seems like we don’t have to hurry yet, so everyone spends a bit of time talking to each other, and there are even some smaller gifts exchanged. The most awkward ones seem to be Tess with Sophie and the twins with Min-Jae, even after apologies and both sides wanting to get over it, but these things take time.

The first to join me is Tess, and when she lifts her eyebrows, I create a chair for her, and she sits next to me.

“Do you have to train even now?” she gestures at the evil cubes floating around me—the version that doesn’t deal with changing frequency, but the one with a smaller cube inside, and then a smaller one inside of that, continuing to the smallest degree I’m capable of.

“I’d be bored if I didn’t.” The cubes float and spin around me. “I could modify some for you to train. The twins love them.”

Tess smiles and taps the cube closest to her. “I’m sure they do. So, how did you find dealing with them, Nat? Last I remember, you were worried about having to be the responsible one.”

“Honestly?”

“Yes, please.”

“They’re annoying little jerks.”

“Are they?” Her smile grows bigger, already knowing it’s not all I have to say. That way, she probes me to say it out loud.

“Lily can be creepy at times, but she mostly listens to me… for obvious reasons. But these two? They can be super impatient and rely on me to deal with consequences. They train hard but constantly try to come up with a way to cheat training just to spite me or try to get one over on me.”

My eyes land on the twins, who still talk to Min-Jae and gesture widely, likely sharing stories from their adventures.

“Wanna hear something? I once gave them a mana-shaping exercise to keep the orb from bursting for as long as possible. The two jerks failed after an hour, but instead of coming to me, they spent half a day using [Sensory Deception] to make an orb that would look and feel like the one I made. Then they showed up in front of me.”

I pause, still remembering the feeling I got back then. I turn to Tess. “I checked it only on the surface, so I failed to notice, but got suspicious a few hours later, and only then did they reveal it was just their projection. For the following two months, they kept reminding me of it every time the tiniest opportunity showed itself. I’ve never seen them so happy, I swear.”

"“That just like them,” Tess agrees.

“Yes, exactly. They’re a pain in the ass, constantly provoking me and everyone around them just to see how far they can push it. For shits and giggles and while keeping their private link going. Annoying little jerks.”

“Sounds like it, Nat.”

“You really want me to say it out loud, right?”

“I do,” she confirms. “We’re both pretty messed up, so we have to push each other to realize things like this. Just like you did for me down under the Mana Desert.”

“I guess,” I shrug it off and lean back, once again staring at the two blonde twins. “They’re annoying little jerks, but they’re my annoying little jerks, so I’ll try to keep an eye on them so they don’t get into trouble.”

“Just like an older brother?” that silly blonde teases so I nudge one of the cubes to bump against her head.

“More like two silly disciples. And honestly, it’s fun sometimes. Just a little bit. The tiniest bit. So small, you wouldn’t even need…”

“I got it, Nat. I got it.”

“Yeah.”

“Kim is also an annoying little shit sometimes.” The playful jab comes out of nowhere, and when I turn to the right, surprised, she’s smiling at me brightly.

***

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