12. Awakening

Zeik woke up slowly, his eyes feeling extremely heavy. The first thing he noticed was the feeling of cloth wrapped in different areas on his body. The next thing he noticed however was soft skin pressed against his side and the feeling of a gaze on him. He looked to the right and saw Emma sitting extremely close to him, their bodies touching and her face flaming red, getting even redder by the second. She squeaked real cute and leapt a good 5 feet away almost rolling over completely off balance and thrown off. She stammered quickly, " Z-z-zeik! Yo-you're awake! That's so good I was so worried I woke up and you were passed out and bloody and I didn't know where we were and so," she started rambling really fast without stopping so nervous her brain had just shut down. Zeik put a finger to her lips putting a stop to her rambling instantly as she turned so red she almost glowed. "Emma please my head is pounding. First, calm down, breathe." He removed his finger and she took a deep breath letting it out slow.

"Better," he asked her with a small smile. She nodded at him before shyly smiling back," now where are we? how long have we been here?" He asked her slowly not wanting to freak her out or whatever had just happened again. She said,'' I honestly don't know how to answer either of those questions. I hoped you at least knew the first one. I woke up about 8 hours ago and cleaned you up before bringing us here. Otherwise I only got the fire going and a little bit of food. I didn't want to leave you alone like that while you were sleeping." She blushed all the way down her neck before stammering out her next question," di-did you s-s-save me-e?" She twirled her hair around her finger, not able to look up into his face and meet his gaze.

Zeik smiled before saying," well I don't know if you'd call it saving per say. I made a deal with Anbak that if I cleared all his challenges then he'd give you to me when I left because he said he still had you alive. He said you failed and that he'd use you as a toy until he was done with you. I didn't wanna let that happen so I made sure you came with me." He smiled as he picked up one of the peaches and hungrily bit into it. The Juices splashed across his tongue making his taste buds sing. She looked up at him and couldn't believe she'd been right about saving her. Not only had he saved her from death but also from unknown torture. "Thank you," she whispered low as she bowed to him, almost touching her forehead to the ground. Zeik was stunned and quickly made her sit up," no please none of that. I am sure you would have done the same for me," he smiled and she realized he really did believe that. This was a good honorable young man who was nothing but kind. She smiled as her heart swelled,' I will follow you to the ends of anywhere,' she thought before saying," Zeik would you please start a guild with me?" She just blurted it out, swallowing her fear.

Zeik was stunned at her words but seriously thought about it. He rubbed his chin before asking," why?" She looked up at him confused," what do you mean?" He shook his head smiling," I mean exactly that, why? Why do you want to start a guild with me? What do you want out of this? What is your goal?" She stared at him for a second before going deep into thought. Soon she had her answer for him.

"I want to start a guild with you because I think it would be the adventure they write about in stories and legends. I've long since been a loner who does her own thing but I can see myself fully and wholeheartedly following you to the ends of every sea, down the deepest of all abyss, and through the stars. There's something about you that draws me near to you and sees a great future ahead of you. Please Zeik won't you start a guild and have me as your first member?" She looked him dead in the eyes, serious and full of passion.

Zeik smirked as he rubbed the back of his head," well I mean when you put it that way how could I ever say no right?" He smiled before nodding at her," alright let's start a hunters guild together, but I have two conditions. First you have to be my vice captain, not just anyone. Secondly you have to help pick a name for us," he smirked at her before winking. Her serious demeanor broke as she blushed right up to her ears and tried to hide behind her hands, "o-okay. As you wish." She sat down and started thinking up different names. Shaking his head Zeik walked over to the large black crate and opened it.

A red ball of light shot into his chest sending him backwards a few feet before he crashed down on his back. Emma jumped up and worried over him as he coughed and tried to breathe. Messages of unreadable code flashed painfully across his vision in his A.I.M. before everything finally settled and he was able to suck in a deep breath coughing hard. Rolling over he took a second before he could tell Emma he was fine and not to worry. A system message sat superimposed over his field of view not moving till he focused on it.

[ Congratulations! Host has acquired a contracted summoning spirit! ]

[ Summoning Spirit ]

[ Name: Maya ]

[ Type: Vampiric Dragon Demon Spirit ]

[ Grade: Legendary [ Sealed ] ]

'What the fuck?' Zeik thought as he got his breathing under control and wondered at the system message. He focused on sealed and it gave him a brief description stating the spirit's strength was sealed down to equal his own. As his strength grew more of hers would be unsealed. He nodded in understanding and decided not to summon her right now. He walked back to the box and started digging through the rewards. First he found a batch of 10 each Health, Mana, and Stamina potions which he put away sighing at the same reward again. Ignoring it he pulled out the second reward, recipes for both the Mana and health potions. Smiling, he rolled them up and stored them in his pack. The third reward was another ring. He focused on it and the system pulled up its details.

[ Void Ring ]

[ Grade: ? ]

[ Description: A simple storage ring with a unique feature. This storage space for this ring in 100 cubic meters squared. ]

[ Limitations: Like any storage ring it can't store living beings. ]

Zeik was completely astounded. This ring could hold 5 times the amount of space then the best grade ones on the market right now. This was completely unreal and he was super stoked as he always wanted a storage ring. With a drop of blood they act like the watches where they only work for the owner. He pricked his finger and dropped 3 drops of blood on the ring claiming it as his. After that he put it on his left middle finger and it fit perfectly. Focusing on it he felt the space beside him open up and he threw his pack into it before closing the space. "Damn this is cool." He decided to store his scythe as well before he put his boots and vest back on. He left the egg out and sat by the fire for warmth however before going back to his new stuff.

The fourth thing he pulled from the crate was a skill book that was black in color. He opened it, surprised to find 3 skills flowing into him. The first was a simple Summon Undead he was able to summon an undead soldier with the same strength as him. The next was his first overly offensive skill called electrokinesis which gave him control over electricity and if he was willing to spend more Mana even create it. Both were level 1 and pretty basic. The third skill however made him almost drool.

[ Life Stealer ]

[ Level 3 ]

[ Description: A passive skill. As the host causes damage to living beings he steals their very life force. The user receives 30% of damage dealt to living creature back as health ]

Finally a skill that healed him. He smiled from ear to ear wiggling comfortably marveling at his new strength again. He picked up the last 2 items from the crate. One was a set of female clothes that he'd guess were added for Emma. He passed them to her and turned around so she could change. While she did he looked at the last item in his hand having the A.I.M. pull up its details.

[ Third Armed Sash ]

[ Grade: Rare ]

[ Description: A sash to be worn around the waist. The sash acts as a third arm for the wearer able to move in full motion for the full 360 degree around them. The arm can reach 3 feet out and can regenerate as long as the base of the sash remains intact. ]

[ Limitations: can only reach 3 feet out. The strength of the sash is the same as the current arm strength as if it was a real part of the body.]

Stunned yet again Zeik slowly put the belt like black silk sash around his waist. As he fitted it on something inside him clicked and he could feel the sash like it was a part of him. Amazingly, he moved it slowly before having it scoop the blue egg up gently. It cradled it close to him like a pouch on his hip and he smiled content with his rewards.