章節 25: About Last Night...
The next morning, Kai awoke in a semi-comfortable bed and felt more rested than he ever had since arriving in this world.
The owners of this particular inn thought it would be good business to let any player have their first stay on the house. They also probably knew that new players wouldn't have hardly any valuables so they would spare them at least one night from sleeping in the wild.
Kai stretched his arms up and scratched at the wraps around them. He was still fully clothed as he didn't have full trust that another player wouldn't try to break the rules.
"How did I almost forget what it felt like to sleep in a bed?" He asked. "How'd you sleep-" He turned his head to the bed a few feet away and found it was completely empty. "Zero?" The room was small so it wasn't that hard to notice that he wasn't anywhere else in the room either.
Kai got up from the bed and quickly ran out the door to check the hallway. Nothing.
Where could he have gone? Kai thought as he couldn't shake a bad feeling. It's not like we have money to go shopping and I don't see him wandering off by himself with all these players around...I'll check with the front desk!
"Kai?"
Kai turned to his left and saw Zero standing there looking confused with a burlap bag in his hand. For some reason, seeing him didn't relieve the tension in his body. Not to mention he looked like he had just finished a full workout. He was about to ask where he was, but his glance immediately fell to the bag in his hand. "What's that?" He asked.
Zero did a slight smirk and opened the bag to stick his hand inside. Kai's eyes slowly widened in disbelief as he pulled out the Shade's Helm.
"....how?" Was all Kai could manage to say.
However, Zero didn't stop there. He then handed the bag to Kai who quickly realized that there was still some weight to it. He looked inside and saw an assortment of gold coins. Most people traded in valuables since gold wasn't something common people peddled around often. His mouth dropped open and his eyes went to Zero for answers.
"I went back for one of the eggs." Zero said.
"Wait, what? B-but that's a several hour journey!" Kai took a breath. "You mean...you've been walking all night?"
Zero nodded.
"But the dragon! Askook!" Kai said flabbergasted. None of this was making sense to him and seemed completely out of how he judged Zero's personality to be.
Zero knew Kai would be a bit taken back, but he felt slightly insulted by how much he seemed surprised that Zero did something on his own. But that was beside the point. Zero had found the answer he had been looking for.
"Well, it turns out Echos only exist in this world because of a strong attachment or emotion still binding them here. So when the King did away with Askook as a boss, he must've felt some type of hatred towards him as he had to leave the last of his eggs behind. Eggs that he had said players were always coming to steal."
Kai rubbed his chin. "Is that what you were asking Mr. Zanzabar about?"
"Yes. But most importantly, I found out how Echos operate. They only appear when you interact with whatever they're attached to. In this case we were lucky and it was just the chest. Apparently it can be a bit more vague than that sometimes."
"How is that lucky though? We almost died touching that chest."
Kai saw a small quick shift in Zero's face. He almost missed it, but he swore he saw the look of someone who was up to no good.
"Well...with no flames around the wall, there's nothing but shadow in the dead of night there."
Kai put two and two together as they stood in the hall piecing together the story. "Shadow cloak..." He then paused for a moment. "Wait, but you would still have to touch the chest right?"
"I tested something out and it just so happened to work. Whatever I carry with me while using Shadow Cloak also vanishes. And Echos...have limited range beyond where they are bound."
Kai was stunned. He had underestimated Zero - without any offensive power of his own, he went back and stole the eggs right under Askook's nose. A dragon with the power to melt them both within seconds.
W-whoa...Kai thought.
"Wait, but you only said you-" Kai started.
"We should probably get going if we wanna travel during the day" Zero cut him off, looking out the window in the hallway. "We have money now so lets grab some stuff before we hit the road."
Kai opened his mouth as if he was about to continue, but decided against it. "Sure." Even after hearing Zero's story, that bad feeling in the back of his mind still hadn't gone away.
*************
Back at the old boss challenge grounds of Askook, he stood in his spectral form close to the entrance where players would enter his area. The same one that Zero had used last night to quickly make his escape.
Askook had been standing in this exact spot, without saying a word, for hours now. His eyes locked to the ground at his feet. His usual fearful eyes now reflected a deep sadness that he had not a soul around to tell about.
At his feet were the shattered remains of two of his eggs - thick goo was splattered all across the sand as well as the bits of two dragon embryos. When Askook was summoned from someone touching his chest, it saw no one but a dug up hole. And no chest.
Fearing that his enemy was invisible, he shot off fire in every direction to pull them out - only to be met with a glimpse of Zero at the last second by the entrance with the chest in his hands.
"You gave me your word, player!" He remembered yelling in fury. He regretted ever trusting a player, but that regret did nothing for him now. The last sight he saw before the one he could not look away from now, was Zero smashing the eggs one by one and watching the mixture spread out over the ground.
"Why?" He had asked him. He'll never forget the chilling words Zero spoke to him.
"To see if I would feel something." He would then turn and disappear into the darkness one last time.
Askook no longer had any shred of happiness to hold onto now.
"Is this what you will feel the emptiness with, player? Or will you just continue to spread it into others.." Askook mumbled in a gravely tone.
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