Chapter 27 - A Quiet Night

"Dude, what up with the wolf?" Rynold asked Oliver as X swatted a tree branch away.

"Strider's a friend, man. Tamed him and everything," Oliver said with a satisfied look on his face.

"Huh, didn't know you could do that," Rynold slumped his shoulders back as a subtle sign of slight envy. But it didn't really matter, since he had his good buddy X along with him for as long as he lives.

The ride back was relaxing and quiet, it was the middle of the night after all. Even though the surroundings were rather silent, the two guys couldn't help but feel restless. The woods were a lot more dangerous than it seemed. Regardless, the two friends continued with their casual conversation.

"You better keep that thing away from me. You know how I am around animals," Rynold said while looking back at the wolf that was following them.

"Come on, man. That was one time! Besides, it's not like animals don't like you. It's just that you're unlucky around them," chuckling at a distant memory, Oliver was noticeably tired from the fight.

"Right, right. You could've helped that time but instead, you just decided to laugh while watching the thing play with me," Rynold sighed.

The story went back a few years ago when they were still strangers who were roommates and nothing more. Looking back at it now, Rynold thought that that particular instance was when the first bonding experience those two had.

Oliver continued, "well, you can't really blame me for laughing. The situation was really one of a kind. I mean, to have the mascot tackle you to the ground and at the same time did its business on top of you was hilarious." He continued to laugh hysterically as they traveled towards the road where the truck was parked.

Rynold couldn't help but let out a sigh filled with regret since he couldn't do anything about it now. He remembered that day as being one of the most embarrassing yet worthwhile memories he has.

"At that time when the damned thing was popping in front of my very eyes, I couldn't help but think, 'why is the mascot of one of the most prestigious schools in the continent a cow?' It didn't make any sense then and it still doesn't make sense now."

Rynold could've sworn that the whole thing was meant to be a prank since it was ridiculous to have a cow beside him at the time. But it definitely wasn't a prank of any sort since the school chairman was actually present at the stadium.

Something about the whole thing just didn't sit right at the time. It was because the whole thing was a PR stunt to make the school more inclusive and they thought that the transfer student dragging along the cow mascot to be a good idea.

It wasn't.

Oliver was still laughing at Rynold when he mentioned what he thought of at the time. Rynold could only sigh, shake his head, and then let out a small chuckle. It was a long time ago, he shouldn't dwell on something that he couldn't fix.

After a few minutes, the group finally made its way to the road to see that the truck was still there, thankfully. Jack was holding his Poisonous Mana Rifle while trying to stay awake. Skye, on the other hand, was wide awake and pacing around the car until she saw X in the distance.

Rynold let out a slight groan as X let him down on the ground. His injured legs meant that he couldn't put any sort of weight on them. Just by moving them caused some pain as it is.

Skye got to work.

She cast Restore to heal Rynold's broken legs but the healing spell wasn't powerful enough to patch him up all the way. Nonetheless, it was helpful. His bones mended back into what they originally looked like but the wounds and cuts that he had were still there. The healing spell Restore is really ever just a simple heal to certain body parts, prioritizing more injured parts until the spell runs its course.

"Thanks," Rynold said to Skye who just finished casting Restore on him. He tried to stand up and noticed that his bones were back to normal but the muscle fibers have yet to heal properly. But it was good enough for the time being.

"Don't mention it," Skye nodded in response. She then went to Oliver to check his condition only to find that he was just tired.

The couple conversed amongst themselves with Oliver mentioning his new wolf, Strider. Meanwhile, Rynold went to where Jack was, on top of the trunk of the pickup.

"Anything happened while we were gone?" Rynold asked the young soldier who managed to barely stir himself awake.

"Nothing really. Just sat here and did nothing while waiting for you guys to come back," Jack supported Rynold to take a seat on the trunk of the car.

Rynold grunted and groaned until he was able to sit and continued, "good. Good. Do you think we should stay here and take a night in the car or do you want to drive?"

It was a big step to ask Jack to drive, signifying that Rynold finally managed to trust Jack after all this time.

Despite the development of their friendship, Jack purposefully declined. "I think we should get you guys to rest up for the time being. After all, we don't really know what's out there and we can't have the two main fighters out of commission."

Jack raised some good points that made Rynold nod at the suggestion. It made perfect sense as he pulled bottled water from his inventory and chugged it all down.

Rynold let out an involuntary cough or two from the absolute destruction of the contents of the water bottle. "Alright," he coughed once more, "you keep watch, I'm gonna catch some Z's."

Oliver approached Rynold who was trying to lie down on the cold trunk of the pickup truck. "You know, I can drive while you get some rest, right?" Oliver asked.

"No, no. Jack's got a point," Rynold responded. "We both should get some rest for the time being. And I'm certainly not gonna risk you passing out the steering wheel."

"Good point," Oliver nodded. He turned around and got into the car with Skye not far behind. Both Rynold and Oliver were pretty tired and resting is the best way to move forward. Strider, on the other hand, couldn't even fit inside the car so Oliver ordered him to stay outside and guard them against any dangers instead.

Meanwhile, Rynold had just successfully lied down on the trunk while Jack was sitting beside him. The night was quiet while the ambiance made it peaceful enough like they were just camping. Well, apart from the Mech Knight, that is.

X was just standing there like a statue, but Rynold knew that it meant more than that. It was just waiting for a command from his liege, so standing there was all it was doing now.

"Keep watch," Rynold commanded to the standing Mech Knight which moved with purpose after registering the command. His Mana shouldn't have a problem keeping up with sustaining X for the night. Combining his title and class bonuses, his Mana is in an endless supply with his Summon: Mech Knight spell.

Speaking of class bonuses, Rynold checked what Mech Affinity meant. Seeing as how it was an unfamiliar Attribute that just showed up, he didn't know what it meant. He pulled his Attribute window and clicked the information of Mech Affinity.

[Mech Affinity]

Provides bonuses on Mech Attributed abilities and skills.

The description was short and sweet, but all in all entirely vague. The bonuses to the skills might be better attack power or just higher overall numbers when dealing damage to enemies, but what about when it comes to summons?

Rynold pulled up X's status window to check if he had better bonuses.

It turns out that the Mech Knight had higher stats but it was really minuscule. X had relatively high Attributes after all and in the long run, the higher Rynold's Mech Affinity is, the higher X would benefit. Rynold was hopeful to see that his buddy was working hard and, knowing that they both could get stronger, in the long run, was satisfied when he chose the Technomancer class.

With that settled, Rynold closed the windows and tried to get some sleep. Rynold hoped that there won't be any weird dreams for this night since the last time it happened was a bit trippy.

The quiet and peaceful atmosphere managed to make Rynold sleep well that night while Oliver did the same wrapping Skye in his arms as the group slept. Jack managed to stay awake for the night to keep watch while X stood motionless, keen to look out for any danger. Strider, meanwhile, rested on the side of the road, curled up on the ground as he fell asleep.