Survivors

"Alright, I'll see you around." Julius said, and Dain left without anything else to say.

—Julius left, wondering just how they had cleared the impossible trial with no losses. 

'So they have a warlord, a scout, an illusionist, a Witch and a duelist.' Thought Julius. 'Perhaps they just used tricks to beat the trial.'

The system's message appeared again.

{Main Camp Established. Awaiting Next Objective.}

They were stuck here. For how long, no one knew.

Some of the survivors were already moving toward the nearby forest, scavenging for food, testing the limits of this new world.

Julius was offered some food on his way to the forest, so he sat down and ate.

It was the first group he had met.

He looked at them a little closer.

{Elric - Level 3 - Merchant} Blonde haired man with a red suit.{Mira - Level 3 - Enchanter} A brown haired girl with pig-tails, she was wearing night-black enchanter robes that were too large, causing them to spill over the floor.{Donovan - Level 4 - Berserker} A large man with clear gym etiquette, he carried a pair of brass knuckles by his side.

Yara walked by and joined them.

"Oh. Julius, mind if I sit?"

They all nodded in unison, after seeing her level.

[Yara- Level 5 Mage]

"Well, thanks for the food." Julius said, they had cooked a rabbit. It tasted tender and innocent.

'I've never had rabbit before.' Julius thought. He figured they were only helping him and Yara because of their level, he had no problem with that.

'For now I just want to rest, who knows what comes next.' Julius figured.

They offered Yara a mushroom shoup, which she gratefully accepted.

Both groups shared their stories from the dungeon.

"What? Your knight accidently killed your druid?" Yara spoke out, her face flushed. "What kinds of people are even here?"

"Yup." Elric the merchant exhaled in pity. "The druid learnt a new skill but he wanted to keep it a secret. When he turned into an animal, the knight thought he was being ambushed from the side, so he just swung with full force. Next thing you know the druid was on the ground crying in pain, and we couldn't stop him from bleeding to death."

"What were the monsters like in your trial? How many waves?" Julius wondered what the gap was between their trials.

"We had two waves, and most of the monsters were only level 3 at most. The worst thing we had to deal with was a level 5 golem, luckily Donovan here crushed it's core with his bare fists. Talk about badass..."

Eldric smiled at Donovan who humbly shrugged. "We would have beaten it regardless, I only found that strength because Miria enchanted my brass knuckles."

The group of 5 continued talking about their experiences for another hour before the night fully crept it. Julius set up a tent around the corners of the camp, Yara set hers up in the vicinity.

"Julius, come with me." She said. 

Unsure of the reason, Julius followed.

She led them to the outskirts of the forest, where she began to cry.

Julius hesitated, his mind still sluggish from exhaustion, but he had followed Yara without question. The campfire's glow faded behind them as they stepped into the forest. Leaves rustled in the wind, following around them.

 She let out a choked sob. She buried her face in her hands, her body trembling.

Julius stood there, unsure of what to do. He had seen Yara release spells of mass destruction, but what he saw before him was simply self-destruction.

"I—" Her voice broke, and she shook her head. "I should be dead, Julius. We should all be dead."

 He knew it was true. The fight had been a massacre. Their skills, their weapons, their teamwork—it had all amounted to nothing in the face of that overwhelming force.

"I hid in a corpse." Yara's voice was barely a whisper now. "I laid there, covered in its blood, waiting for them to leave. I couldn't even breathe properly. I thought—" Her breath hitched. "I thought I was already dead, I don't even want to put myself anywhere dangerous ever again. I was this close to death..."

She held out her finger.

Julius exhaled sharply and sat down on a nearby rock. "But we lived."

"But why?" she snapped, lifting her tear-streaked face to glare at him. "Why did we survive when the others didn't? Why am I here, talking to you, when Garrick, Fraero, and Orion are just—" She clenched her fists, digging her nails into her palms. "Why do we deserve to live? Why are we even here?"

Yara let out a bitter laugh. "You know what's funny? The system didn't care. The moment the fight ended, it just gave us our levels, our loot, and told us to move on. Like it was just a game. I never played these kinds of games before, so I know nothing."

Julius felt something heavy settle in his chest. He had thought the same thing when the golden notifications had appeared. His level had gone up. He had received rewards. And yet, none of it felt like it mattered. None of it could bring back the people they had lost.

He looked at Yara, at the way her fingers dug into her arms as if she was trying to keep herself together. He knew that feeling too well. He took a deep breath.

"Yara."

She didn't respond.

"We're here because we're different. I saw you pretend to be dead, not just anyone can fool mercenaries like that. Me, I just failed my attack and stealthed out, what you did took skill and self-control."

Julius met her gaze, steady and firm. "There's only one thing you need to think about."

She swallowed, waiting.

"Remind yourself every time you're down that we're still alive," he said. "And if we're alive, that means we still have a choice. We can sit here and break apart, or we can keep going. And that choice is yours, right now you're just breaking apart. If that's how you want to live, go on. But I don't think that's how you want to live."

Yara let out a shaky breath. "But how do I stop feeling like this?"

"Gain power." Julius said, his voice quiet but certain. "If you want to get past your fears, you need to become strong to the point that you don't have to suffer loss."

Yara closed her eyes for a long moment, breathing in deeply. When she exhaled, it wasn't steady, but it was something. She wiped her face with the back of her sleeve and nodded.

"Okay," she whispered. "Okay. Why am I even crying? That's such a baby thing-."

Julius stood up and offered her his hand. She looked at it for a moment before taking it, allowing him to pull her to her feet.

They walked back to camp together, silent but side by side.

"Oh and don't talk about this to anyone. I'm never crying again." She spoke, her face flushed red with embarassment.

"I have a feeling, we'll get a new order from the system tommorow. But we'll have to wait and see."

That night, the camp slept in silence.

And the system brewed up it's next task.