Chapter 57: Reunion
Linri finally let go of his mother, he still needed to talk a lot with them but this was not the situation. Once he let her go though he saw Arkady's pitiful look, so being the nice guy he is, he also gave him a big hug.
"So, mom, dad, I think you guys owe me a little explanation. Like how my arm healed overnight or how was I suddenly teleported here." Linri had to play the part of a fool in order to hide his secrets. This was still too soon according to his plans but sometimes you needed to improvise.
After asking his question Linri moved his left arm to show that it was fine. Actually, he did not really need to that since his face became a little more mature along with his canine teeth peeking out of his lips. He had the natural look of a 'Big Bad Wolf' so they should be able to tell right?
To his question, both of them had a troubled look in their faces. One could imagine they did not intend to tell him about his family this way and that person would be right since it really was not supposed to happen like this, at least according to what he wrote.
"Well..." Arkady was about to say something while awkwardly scratching his beard but he was stopped by Lyra.
"Sorry sweetie, I know that this must be confusing for you but this is not the time and place for that kinda talk." Linri looked at her with grievance in his eyes but he was actually overjoyed in his heart. The farther he pushed this talk, the better it was for him.
"If you say so..." Linri sounded dejected and disappointed. Actually, it would wave been better for him to act angry but he was afraid that they would really tell him everything so he went for the next best thing.
"Give me your hand!" Lyra suddenly commanded him. This sudden outburst scared him but he obediently handed her his right hand. She must have noticed it now as she did not say anything before.
Lyra looked at his mangled, bloody right hand. It was actually quite surprising that this was not the first thing she noticed. His hand was a mess, Linri also was startled by the fact that he ignored this. He could feel the pain from his arm but he was not bothered by it.
Noticing the crux of the matter Linri had a foreboding. Because he was subjected to too much pain at the last room he had gotten accustomed to pain and this was in no way a good thing. Human beings learn and adapt thanks to their pain receptors. Once you are burned by the oven as a child you would always be afraid of it. This came from the fact that our brain deemed it as the oven having the ability to kill us.
In Linri's situation however, it was different. Since he was not bothered by pain that meant that his brain deemed it as safe for him. After getting killed who knows how many times he had become numb to the fear of death. When something makes us feel pain, let's say a small needle, our first reaction would be to get away from the pain source instinctively. In the situation of a small needle, it would be tensing our muscles and taking back our finger. But since Linri was not bothered by pain his body would not have this reaction.
For everyday life this would not be dangerous it could even be counted as a blessing since you would not be bothered by paper cuts or stubbing your toe to the desk. Though for fighters it is the exact opposite since he was numbed to the feeling of death he would have to dodge an attack by himself rather than his body acting on its own for self protection. That would make it considerably harder.
Linri came out of his daze when Lyra tightened the bandages on his right hand. He also noticed her giving a peculiar look towards the silver serpent bracelet on his arm but she did not say anything. This was actually good news for him. That look might mean she knew something about the bracelet and might even know the way to take it off.
"So? Are you not going to tell me where we are?" Linri asked while looking around.
"Okay let me explain..." Arkady chimed in and give him a rundown about what happened to them till now.
At first, the expedition was going smoothly, they had managed to uncover a garden, living quarters, the place where they prayed and a library. The first 4 days of the expedition was normal there was nothing going out of ordinary but everything changed on the 5th day. From god knows where suddenly statues of Togk Soldiers appeared and attacked them. They did not let them escape and pushed them towards the library.
The situation was not that bad as they could still hold on but that changed when one of the researches discovered a secret passage. Thinking that it led to outside everyone rushed inside but this place led to a dead end. As the icing to the cake once they arrived at this room a stone door closed off the exit and now they are trapped here.
"Wait? Then what about mom?" Linri was looking at Lyra demanding an explanation.
"Same as you. Once I set a foot inside the temple I was teleported here. I think they must have activated a defence mechanism and putting the temple on a lockdown state." Lyra gave him her version of the story.
After listening to both of them Linri was overcome with guilt. This had happened because of him. The dates of when everyone got trapped here and when he made the deal coincided. The deities must have definitely done this out of spite. Still, this was the least of his worries for now.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone