Troubles

Chapter 4 : Troubles

"I don't think this is the right way Toma-kun." Elise's voice had taken on a low tone filled with apprehension.

Toma could relate. He could only imagine the size of the spiders responsible for spinning such large, thick webs. The trees were full of them and many strands of the same webbing fell down all around them. For the most part all of the webs seemed older, but that didn't put Toma at ease. He strained his eyes to catch even the slightest sight of a spider, but nothing.

Fight or flight was, once again, kicking in. However it was more than that. Each adventurer was given an orientation upon arriving in the new world. Their instructors drilled them on the basics and the number one mantra was "live to fight another day". Flee at the first sign of trouble if you can, hide if you can and prioritize your own safety. Adventurers, though numerous, were also a valuable resource. They helped run and protect towns, responded to quests and every odd job in between aside from battling monsters. As such it self preservation was ruthlessly drilled into them from the beginning.

The reality is, many adventurers simply ignored this in favor of catering to their egos. And who could blame them? A normal human being who could conjure fire balls or swing massive blades with one hand -- such a thing was like a fantasy. Anyone who suddenly inherited powers like that would be keen on using them.

Aside from that, many adventurers developed superiority complexes, became abusive or in some cases, outright tyrants. But not Toma. For him odd jobs around Settlement were enough. He'd heard the tales of parties being decimated by fang and claw. He'd seen the bodies of reckless adventurers who wandered too far, too fast. If only there was a way to escape this place safely without dealing with any more monsters.

Toma's face was still bloodied from an encounter with the giant pill bugs. His chest still felt heavy with a lingering pain and his body was throbbing, full of adrenaline. Both of these were reminders of how the situation quickly spiraled out of control -- and how much worse things could be.

Immediately Toma grasped the Return Locket which lay neatly tucked against his chest. Mentally he prepared to use it at a moment's notice. He genuinely felt bad for leaving behind Chaddus and the others, but they were much stronger than him. Even Elise was level three in comparison to his level zero. At least she had a fighting chance, for him it would be over in a heartbeat.

Still, Toma had no intention of abandoning his best and only friend in this strange world. When the time came both of them would be using the Locket to escape. The only question was "When?"

*Should I just use it now?* He thought as he instinctively grabbed Elise's hand once more. Toma's mind was racing, as was his heart. He was stalled by indecision, he'd never been placed in such a situation before where not only his life but the life of a loved one was on the line.

*Fuck it! I'm going to do it!* Toma strengthened his resolve and firmly grasped the blue gem on the locket. He flowed mana into the gem, a sign to the item that it was to be activated. The gem began to gently glow, causing Elise to take note of it.

"Toma?" Elise's eyes widened as she realized what he was attempting to do.

"We can't leave Chaddus and the others!" She protested as she stepped forth and placed her freehand on Toma's shoulder. Her eyes were pleading, yet Toma felt a fierce coldness welling up in his heart. If the choice was to risk Elise's life, nevermind his own, to find three strangers -- it was a no brainer. Elise would win out every time!

His mind flashed back to memories of childhood and all the times she'd stood up for him. Against bullies, teachers, even stray animals. Toma knew that this was a part of Elise's nature. He felt it was one of the reasons she was a successful adventurer, at the least much better than himself. At her core, she was a person who cared about others and in many ways Toma saw the bright eyed, optimistic woman as the sun. He, however, could be considered darkness. Always alone, lingering on the outskirts of social situations. Rarely did he speak or interact with anyone except the blonde haired girl who would always come and find him.

Before long Elise had become a permanent part of his life, she gave him something that he could never repay her for in a thousand lifetimes. It was this singular thought that caused Toma to completely ignore his friend, defying her for the first time ever.

"No. We aren't going back. They can fend for themselves. And to be honest I don't care about them. I care about you." Toma said as he firmly grasped Elise's hand and gazed directly into her eyes.

She seemed taken aback by the directness of his words. So much so that she forgot to make a protest. She averted her eyes and glanced downwards as she continued to listen to Toma's reasoning.

"Once we get back to town we can come back and look for them. We just need to hire some adventurers who already have experience with this zone. It's the easiest and quickest way to survive this without any casualties."

Elise seemed as if she wanted to protest, but in the end she simply shook her head. Toma was surprised by this given Elise's deep sense of justice, but he didn't dwell on it too long. Or more specifically he couldn't.

The sound of skittering was the first thing Toma noticed, his ears perked up to the sound of fallen leaves shifting in the distance. Soon the noise was more prevalent and it was all he could do not to lose his cool. His eyes darted to and fro, it quickly became apparent that both of the adventurers were surrounded.

"Toma.." Elise's voice held a distinct tone of worry, even as she lifted her staff and prepared for battle.

"Stay close to me." Toma said as he turned, his back pressed against Elise's. For any item that needed to be activated, an adventurer would need to feed mana. In this case, the Return Locket's effects would not activate until Toma filled the item with enough mana to fuel its use. For this reason he couldn't remove his grip on the locket, he would be forced to fight single handedly which was unwieldy for a spear user.

Still, Toma couldn't rely totally on Elise for something like this.

"You stay close to me." She replied as she let the first fireball fly.

"Firebolt!" She shouted, the blast of fiery magic traveled the distance and blasted a nearby tree trunk. It's flames splattered outwards and eventually settled along the ground and bushes nearby. The flames illuminated the darkened environment, allowing Elise to catch a glimpse of a sight that she wished she hadn't. Dozens of eyes staring at her as the sound of chittering reached a strangely excited chorus.

On the other side Toma was dealing with the same sight, only to him it was puzzling.

"Why aren't they attacking?" He whispered as he clenched his spear fiercely, expecting a spider to leap forth at any moment.

Elise was too involved with firing magic to respond. Insects made her skin crawl in the best of times, this was simply too much. She wanted them all dead, beyond dead if she could help it! The spiders seemed to scurry away or evade her blasts of flame magic, yet they never closed in or attempted to attack in any way.

"Elise..Elise..stop!" Toma whispered. The spiders surrounding them were no longer active, in fact they seemed to be retreating en masse. Toma could feel the heaving breaths of Elise who had been driven into a near frenzy at the thought of being confronted by spiders. He could sense her desperation, as well as her resolve to keep from flying into a panic. Yet there was something else, something that Toma couldn't quite put his finger on. He glanced down at the sight of a glowing gem between his fingers. The light emitted was now more vibrant than before, it wouldn't be long before they could escape this hell. The next few moments would be crucial, and Toma had no intention of messing up.

"Elise. Relax, but stay alert. Something's not right." Toma whispered. Gradually the sound of Elise's labored breathing slowed and eventually corrected itself. If Toma could see her face, he might be concerned. There were thick beads of sweat lined against her brow and falling down the sides of her cheeks. She was also shaking uncontrollably as she struggled to keep her wand at the ready. Her manic assault had also bought upon the side effects of mana depletion. For Elise it was now a struggle to even stay standing, much less alert.

"I..I think I overdid it. T-toma.."

Toma wheeled around as Elise's voice trailed off. The sound of her body hitting the ground was panic inducing for Toma, so much in fact that he completely forgot to maintain contact with the Return Locket as he rushed to Elise's side.

"Elise? Hey. Hey!" He quickly cradled the young woman in his arms as Toma knelt before her. He shook her gently and examined her face, more than anything she looked sick. Toma immediately recognized the signs of mana depletion. She'd used more mana than she had and now her body would be forced to recover properly or face life threatening illness.

To make matters worse, all around the small clearing Toma noticed movement. The sight of dozens of spiders inching outwards from the underbrush, or revealing themselves from tree branches.

"Shit. Shit!" Toma practically shouted in dismay.

*We're totally fucked." He thought to himself as a pang of realization struck him. He glanced down at Elise, she seemed to be in pain yet she was completely unconscious.

*Is this the end? Is this how I die? Eaten by spiders…* Toma's mind began to reel as the thought of long mandibles sinking into his flesh caused his heart to seize up. But the moment Toma imagined the same fate for Elise, he could only clench his fists in defiance.

*No. I can't give up. Not until my last breath.* Toma thought as he glanced down at the inert Return Locket in his palm. He took several deep breaths, his eyes swimming in and out of focus as he resolved himself for what needed to be done. After several deep breaths, Toma sprang into action.

He hoisted Elise onto his back and leaned forward so that she could comfortably slouch against him as he carried her piggy back. He then placed the Return Locket in his mouth and began to infuse it with mana.

*I'm not going to let you die in this shitty place.* Toma reaffirmed his goals as he began to dash headlong into the woods.

If there was no means of escape, he planned to make one!

He chose the direction with the least amount of spiders and darted past them with all of his might. At the same time he focused on infusing the Return Locket with mana. By his best estimates it would take a minute or two at the most. For Toma this was practically an eternity. He had no confidence in his ability to fight off dozens of spiders, perhaps even hundreds. His only chance lay in the desperate plan which he'd hatched -- to activate the locket while on the run.

He could hear the sound of skittering and pitter patter of limbs as he dashed through the woods. He nearly tripped over roots and rocks, but each time he refused to let himself go down -- all for the sake of the unconscious mage in his care. As he dashed forward Toma noticed spiders descending from all sides, now that he could get a better look at them his panic reached new heights.

Each of the creatures were no smaller than a small dog, some larger. Their bodies were black, save for two large neon green lines along the abdomen and deeply red eyes which reminded Toma of the color crimson. Long hairy legs which effortlessly carried the creatures anywhere they desired, topped off by long jaws which held fang-like mandibles.

The creatures launched themselves like paratroopers from strands of webs in the treetops. Likewise other creatures scurrying along the ground lunged their bodies towards Toma, forcing him to redirect just to avoid collision.

Toma could only imagine the pain which accompanied being bitten by his foes and he didn't want to find out. He pressed his body harder and farther, all the while he feverishly poured mana into the Return Locket concealed in his mouth. He ran, his sense sharpened for the slightest of movements and he dared not look back.

Scrapes from trees and bushes, bruises from knocking into trees. His ankles felt as if they would give away from the strain of carrying Elise as he shifted his weight as demanded. Just when Toma felt that he couldn't take anymore, that he was beginning to lose himself in the pace that he struggled to maintain -- the sensation of mana drained ceased. The Return Locket was ready.