It was great to be back.
This was the first thought that came up to Neo’s mind.
Now that he thought about it.
The air here in The Outlands didn’t seem so harsh.
Not fresh, just bearable.
Was that because of Devour?
Maybe.
Maybe, it was just the fact that he was alive.
And very much glad of that fact.
He was fast on his way to the East Immortal Fort.
He could only hope the team hadn’t held his funeral.
In this mortal world, they were the only ones who would do that for him.
His first stop when he reached the East Immortal Fort, was the Adventurer Guild.
He exchanged some of his contribution points for gold coins.
Good thing, he had saved up.
He made a stop after at the armorer’s shop, to get himself a new cloth armor.
One very much like his previous one which was destroyed.
The armor suited his fighting style, and had served him well.
He finally released the technique he had been operating for a while now.
The feel of true clothing was different.
Now, it was time to stop by the inn the team had rented a room at when they first arrived here.
He hoped they were still around.
He did not want to go all the way to Decan, that out of the way town, if they were not around.
*
“This has become a very unhealthy obsession.” Derek snapped.
“Give her a break, will you.” Mia was trying to keep the calm.
“What the hell has she been doing there.
Look at her!
And how long are we going to sit our asses here.”
He paced back and forth in the room.
His tone rising, as his words came out rapidly.
“And for heaven’s sake.
It’s been three days!” He shouted.
He threw his hands up in the air, as if to emphasize this fact.
“We agreed on a week.” Mia reminded him.
She was calm, even as Derek almost wore the floor down with his rapid pacing.
His shouting wasn’t helping matters.
“It is just a few more days.
Keep calm.” Lancelot was having tea.
The team members were in one large room.
The room they had rented in the inn.
The last member of the team, Sofia was uncaring for the happenings in the room.
The shouting and pacing didn’t seem to register in her mind.
Even when the whole disturbance seemed to be mostly because of her.
Her eyes remained glued to the door.
She seemed to be waiting for something.
Or someone.
A sword was laid across her laps.
Its sheath gleamed with a glossy sheen.
Same with the hilt.
When they returned and submitted their mission.
They had decided to stay one more day, but Sofia disagreed.
She wanted them to stay as long as it took Neo to come back.
Which had caused some discontent with Derek.
After some back and forth.
The team agreed on one week.
Still, that long seemed too much for Derek.
Sofia had kept staring at the door since then.
Her eyes never wavering.
The only other thing she did was polish that sword.
She seemed to have abandoned her awareness of everything else.
Even Mia was baffled by this strange state that had consumed the young lady.
Neo was someone who shared the same background and situation with her.
They had a lot in common.
It was easy for the the two of them to relate with and understand each other.
In this mortal world, this strange place she was still getting used to.
He was the only one from her world who she had met.
How could his loss not pain her deeply.
But even she was nowhere near this state that Sofia was in.
She only had one thing to describe Sofia with.
Lovesick.
Sofia seemed to be seriously lovesick.
Getting this way for someone you barely knew for a week.
She shook her head.
“As if staying in this damned place for a week isn’t enough.
Why do we have to split our earnings five way?” Derek was really in quite the mood today.
Bringing up something Mia thought was already settled.
She was getting vexed with every moment, but she kept her calm.
“We already agreed on this.
We will wait till the end of the week.” Mia made sure to remind him again.
The one week wait was as much for Sofia as it was for Mia.
She didn’t want to believe that Neo was dead.
Gone forever.
However, life still had to go on.
And she sure hoped that this was more than enough time for Sofia to snap out of it.
The young woman seemed to be in another world now.
“Look at her.
Is she under some spell or something.”
“Derek.
That is enough!” Mia seemed to have had enough of him for today.
“Derek, come sit with me.” Lancelot called him to his side.
There was a knock on the door at that moment.
Everyone turned that way.
Sofia who had been seated rose up.
That was surprising.
This wasn’t the first time there was a knock on their door.
This, however, was the first time she had stood up.
She rushed to the door.
Throwing it wide open.
Then, she froze.
Her eyes stared at the person standing there in the doorway.
Then, she jumped at him and threw her hands around him.
Locking him in a tight embrace.
*
Neo was still reeling from the tight embrace Sofia had locked him in.
He was surprised that it had been three days, and that the team was still around.
He had his sword back with him.
Given back to him by Sofia who did so with great enthusiasm.
The young woman had her seat next to his now, as the team gathered round the table.
Mia had been pestering him with questions.
Lancelot seemed to be glad that he was back.
And maybe Derek too.
Sofia just sat quietly next to him, her eyes never leaving him for a moment.
Neo felt that with this and the hug from earlier.
Sofia was getting scary.
“Wait!” Mia stopped Neo who was telling them how he survived the self destruction technique.
Neo, of course, wouldn’t tell the whole truth.
He had spinned for them a good tale.
With a lot of the key details changed.
“So, you are telling me there happened to be a pool of healing water where you fell.”
Neo nodded.
Apparently, according to the tale he told them.
He fell just a few meters under the ground.
He had separated from the strange creature during the fall.
There had been a brief fight.
However, he had managed to kill the strange creature.
Although, his self destruction technique had done most of the work.
Then in his agony, he had crawled towards a shallow pool, which he fell into.
Then he woke up as pristine as could be.
A pretty good tale.
As close to the truth as possible.
Not too exaggerated.
He hadn’t mentioned the bloodline part.
“Lucky bastard.” Derek muttered.
Neo only smiled at that.
“Well, there was something else too.
I will keep that as a surprise for now.”
“Oh.
I love surprises,” Sofia said, smiling at him.
Her voice held something that wasn’t there before.
Neo forced a smile.
This woman seemed different than before.
Mia was exasperated.
Sofia really had turned into something else.
“Well, while you were not around.
We divided the contribution points.” Mia told him.
“We kept yours of course.
There is also the merit points.”
“You did?” Neo was surprised.
“If only someone had been a few days late.” Derek said to no one in particular.
“We did, of course.” Mia answered.
“Let me have your Adventurer Card.”
Neo handed it over, and she transferred the contribution points.
The merit points were also transferred.
“You can rest for now.
We can sort out everything else tomorrow.”
Hello.
(^o^)
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