Chapter 36

A campfire was lit next to a small lake that was surrounded by tiny cliffs with red trees on them growing diagonally to cover the body of water below.

A large gathering of players was seated around the campfire.

Klaren spoke up as he drank some purple liquid from a vial.

"Amazing work, everyone. We've proven ourselves yet again, that we are God's chosen people."

People nodded and made sounds of agreement.

"Such an unfair, brutal world that almost never offers a second chance. One significant flaw, be it visual or mental, and your life is far worse than it should be. A boy gifts a girl chocolate for Valentine's day at the Eiffel Tower to show his love, with the chocolate made by child slaves who work in cocoa fields for nothing but more suffering and pain."

Klaren paused for a couple seconds and took a heavy breath.

"Never feel guilty for what you do to our enemies, my comrades. No matter if they beg, cry, scream or do anything. They want to bring us to that hellhole again. All because they're lucky that that hellhole isn't a hell for them."

Klaren stopped speaking, and Limen sat up from his lying position and leaned against a rock next to him. He spoke next.

"God chose us to make things fairer, to give those who were unfortunate another chance. A chance to many of those that are unfortunate would never get outside this game. Remember this, and kill all those who stand in our way."

A pause in speaking happened.

The fire was the only thing that was heard for a few moments. Amidst dozens and dozens of players.

The bald knight with a face tattoo of a leopard's head with a roaring lion's mouth dipped a peace of meat on a stick into the fire to heat it up again.

He bit on the meat and then he spoke.

"I truly trust and believe in you Klaren, tell me to do anything and I will do-COUGH, COUGH!"

The man coughed from the food strongly.

He got up leaned his head forward to spit the food out.

"AGH!" He screamed. His head now in the tall campfire

"Hahaha! That'll add some texture to your head!" A knight in the back called out.

"Agh, I'm gonna fuck you Lucas."

Laughter spread around, the mood and topics of discussion shifting to something more and more positive and easy-going.

***

It was dark in Max's room. He laid on a soft bed, staring at the ceiling blankly. A woman laid next to him.

A week passed since the escape.

Max left the bed slowly to go to the bathroom.

He lit up a gemstone with his aura, illuminating the room.

The player washed his face multiple times, then looked into the mirror with an open mouth.

He had dyed his hair blonde, and he tattooed "Luci" on his right cheek.

He stared at his own eyes with a tired squint.

"I need to stop this."

Sleeping around.

He didn't really love the women he slept with.

Her eyes was what he truly wanted. Her high, straight eyebrows. Her look. The small eyebags, or fat pads beneath her eyes. Her kind, almost melancholic green eyes.

Her eyes would heal him immediately.

Other women were simply a distraction.

A tear once again fell down Max's cheek.

"I'm sorry." He said.

"Shit..." He swallowed back tears with his own eyes.

Not letting them come out.

'I should go outside.' He thought.

It was the dead of night.

He went back into the main room, then to the door. Turning the lock made a small clicking sound and the door shrieked when being opened.

"Where are you going?" The woman in bed asked. Her appearance mostly invisible in the darkness.

"Outside for a bit, sorry for waking you."

The player closed the door behind him and went down the lit hallway.

A refreshing blow of soft wind hit him as he stepped outside the hotel.

Max sighed and walked down a path that led out of the town.

The streets were illuminated by lights but mostly empty.

He decided it would be wise to practice the technique he grasped from the Awakened sparring partner.

Soon, he had arrived at a remote, flat plain outside the town.

The stars and heavenly bodies above made a beautiful canvas that distracted Max for a few moments.

He then took a breath and imbued himself with his dark blue aura.

Most of the aura flowed into his legs and then he bolted forward.

It was a strong dash, but nothing like what he was hit by.

"Wait, this isn't it at all..."

Max frowned.

"Discharge aura. Discharge." He said to himself quietly.

The aura was still in his legs, and so he tried again.

PHOUU!

The player bolted ten meters forward.

It was...

'Was it even faster?' The player thought with a frown.

"I discharged some of the aura. My aura is at 99 percent. Okay. I just have to...adapt my body to the discharging then? So that it discharges even more?

Another attempt revealed that he still wasn't below 99 percent. Showing how little was being discharged from his legs.

"Training at the dead of night, are we?"

Max turned around quickly.

He saw a man who looked to be in his fifties. He had a well-groomed beard and short dark grey hair.

"Yeah, couldn't sleep."

"You look like a Higher."

"I am."

"What are you training?"

"A technique where you discharge aura from your body explosively, to move at a speed above what you should be."

The older man looked at him in confusion and Max picked up on it.

"I just started grasping it, putting it into practice...y'know."

"Huh...I've never heard of it. Where did you learn it from?"

"From a Higher named Levent Ivor."

"Are you a Higher too?"

"Yeah."

"I've heard of Levent. He was third in the Imperial tournament two years ago."

"He was?!" Max asked in a surprised voice.

"Yes, as good as they come. You met a fine warrior."

A short moment of silence ensued, one which Max broke.

"What are you doing here at night?"

"Couldn't sleep, same as you."

"Well, why here?"

Max sat down on the grass and the man near him did the same.

"When my soul is pained, I go out here, alone, in the quiet night, to look at the stars. It makes me feel like a part of something bigger. Like I'm not a mere individual who often suffers."

Max looked at him with a squint.

"I...I had a son, he was a warrior like you. Like I used to be. He was a Higher."

"What happened?" Max asked.

"He...he was executed. For a murder he didn't commit. It was an assasination of a lord. He was framed."

"You think he was innocent?"

"Always will. He was the kindest soul. Helped everyone he could. Wanted to make the world a better place."

"What was his name?"

"Danes Lars..."

The player nodded and swallowed.

"I had...have two kids, but...they're not with me." Max added.

"A divorce?"

"No...it's very complicated. But I'm fighting to get back to them."

"Huh...Well, at least you have something to fight for. I lost my wife to suicide soon after as well." Said the man, looking up at the stars.

"I am so sorry..." Said the player sincerely.

"Don't be kid. If the world...If life was fair, we'd all be hanging corpses."

Max was completely silent, staring at the man. Dozens of emotions present in his heart.

"What's your name kid?" The man broke the silence.

"Max...Max Veritas."

"I'm Ravertz Lars. It was good to meet you."

Ravertz approached the player and extended his hand.

Max looked him in the eyes and then shook his hand firmly.

"Reach great heights kid. And..."

The man swallowed back both saliva and tears.

"And try to make the world a better place, like my son tried to."

Max took deep breaths as he watched the man's back fade away into the night.

He then blankly stared at the sky.

"I wish I could...I wish I could." He said quietly.

And then continued his training.