"Ah finally! it's been so long since I saw a city and other people."
Leo stretched as he approached a nearby rock, brushing off the layer of snow before sitting on it. Tatiana gave him a shove to the side and took a seat next to him.
"No one wants to hear your complaints, just hearing your voice makes my mood even worse"
Leo only laughed, moving inches close to Tatiana, before brushing her hair with his finger removing the snow that was piling up.
"Seems like your in a bad mood today, want me to massage your shoulders? Maybe that'll lighten you up"
Leo didn't let her say a word and immediately put his hands on his shoulders, massaging her muscles and back diligently. Tatiana didn't reject his proposal and fixed her hair as she did.
Haruo has his eyes fixed forward, only looking at the neighboring city ahead of them from the mountain. Leo noticed his focus, his eyes only darting on the distant city.
Leo smiled at Tatiana, giving her shoulder a few pats before standing and walking over to Haruo's side. There he saw a view where no trees blocked his vision which gave him a clear image to the valley.
Below the horizon lay a vast city, its warm lights glowing with life. Walls seemed to encircle it, though he couldn't be sure—their stretch vanished beyond his sight.
In his estimation, they were at least 3 kilometers, or a mile and a half, from the city. It was considerably chilly in the Fiond regions, especially near mountain tops. Earlier, he almost fell and slipped down the slope.
But before he was carried away by the slope, Theodor managed to grab him by the collar of his leather jacket. But the way he did so was by using the handle of his spear at the very end.
So he was skeptical about going to the edge again after that scene. Yet that didn't stop him from making his way to Haruo. Once he made it, he patted his shoulder lightly, only for Haruo to ignore him.
"I know you aren't dumb, and you know we aren't either"
Haruo wanted to ignore his words at first, but he realized he wasn't leaving until he answered.
"What are you trying to get here? You're just saying things that come out of your mouth, don't you?"
"Why exactly are we here?"
Haruo stayed silent for a moment before rubbing his eyes and meeting Leo's gaze. When Haruo finally looked away, Leo smiled in satisfaction—he knew he'd been right.
"Aren't you stubborn. Won't stop till you get an answer you're satisfied with."
"Manifestation failure is something 40% of the human population experiences—whether it be mana or abilities. And for a simple flower to exist only in one region, I'm sure most of us here have already noticed the pattern."
Haruo redirected his gaze, observing the other division members and confirming if they were eavesdropping. Leo only waved his hand, his pupils growing a green luminance.
"Don't worry, they can't hear us right now. I've created an illusion to make it seem like we're taking a view of the city mixed with small talk."
Leo let out a small chuckle, smiling to himself like a madman. He crouched down, turning his back on the scenery, and fixed his gaze on Haruo once more.
"Haru, we've lived and fought alongside each other for two months now."
"Everyone here recognizes you as the leader of this division and puts their faith in you, yet you don't even trust us enough to tell us why we're really here."
Haruo didn't say a single word, let alone move his own mouth. The only reply Leo received was a cold stare from him. Leo's smile vanished for a second before looking at the white sky, before smiling again.
Leo stood up from his crouched position, patting his legs before patting Haruo's shoulder once again. He took a deep breath then said:
"It's okay if you don't want to say it, and there's no use trying to force you to. I trust our leader will tell us soon. Guess I wasn't the only stubborn one after all."
Leo simply waved before heading back to the others. Haruo watched him for a moment, then went back to what he had been doing earlier.
***
After their short conversation, midnight was just around the corner. They all prepared a camp and made a fire. All of them circled the fire to gather some warmth.
Isaac then placed many sticks beside them and used them to fuel the fire if it ever went out. Leo buttoned his leather jacket, shivering ever so slightly. He noticed that most of the division were wearing the same clothes as they did when they first met.
While he was there shivering in heavy clothing, two of them weren't even shivering. He was confused. It puzzled him—how was he the only one trembling despite wearing something relatively warm?
"Aren't you guys cold?"
The members glanced at him before putting their attention back on the fire.
Isaac was the first to answer the question. "I mean, yeah, but I spent most of my training in snowy terrains while being almost naked, so it doesn't faze me much."
Then Tatiana, "I'm literally shivering, what are you on about?"
"You don't count!" Leo exclaimed. Tatiana only rolled her eyes as a response.
After her was Ena, "I heat my own blood, or if I wanted to, I could just scatter blood everywhere in the air and make heaters out of heated blood."
"Why can't you just do that, your not the only one here who feels cold y'know"
Leo was a bit upset that she didn't share her warmth even though she could.
"I don't want to hear that coming from a person who can generate fire with his OWN ability, hypocrite."
"Touché."
then followed by Theodor, "..."
"Hey come on, everyone's doing it. It feels unfair if you don't even say anything"
Even when Leo said that, Theodor was still silent and just did what he was doing, Which was nothing.
Lastly, Haruo said, "My body temperature stays constant, so there's really no point in doing anything about it.. Well kinda"
"What? Is that some kind of passive ability? And in which way exactly?"
Leo was quite puzzled, trying to comprehend what he just said.
"What? Since when? How come I'm only finding out about this now?" Ena asked in confusion.
Haruo only shrugged. "Well, it isn't like that all the time, it's more of a once-a-week type of thing, not really a passive, but it also is. It's really common in low-tier abilities."
"So your constantly hot?" Isaac asked.
"No, the other one."
"Well I am, metaphorically only though" Leo said with a smug expression.
Haruo stood up from his seat gently—the fire cackling as it did. It had turned very quiet now, with only the light snow to break the silence. The sky was turning dim, the faint orange hue from the horizon fading slowly into the mountains.
Haruo only let out a heavy sigh before making his way to one of the tents. He touched the fabric of the entrance using the back of his hand to get a clear passage before fading away from the division.
"He's sleeping this early? It's barely even six."
Isaac staring at the entrance of the tent before looking at the other members. He threw in a stick to keep the fire blazing and alive.
Tatiana then went toward a sack and untied it, loosening the tie by bit. Revealing a mountain of food—Most were from the remains of the Skavilen they had killed.
They had separated the flesh from its venomous black goo, and butchered it in many ways to make it edible. The taste wasn't bad but it wasn't good either.
It had to be cooked perfectly just to taste even halfway decent. Inside the sack were hundreds of skewers made from Skavilen flesh, heavily seasoned to mask the bitterness. Tatiana set ten of them by the fire.
One for each member—except for Theodor, one isn't enough to suffice a person like him. He can eat about twenty or twenty-five skewers and is still hungry for more.
But they limit his intake, they might have a large portion of rations but if not distributed properly, they'd have to hunt or buy more—both wasteful and inefficient.
"Let him be; he was the only one productive enough to help us clean the ship throughout the entire journey. Meanwhile, those slackers barely did anything."
Tatiana said with a spiteful tone towards them while gifting them a disdainful glare.
"What I helped too!" Leo said.
"On the first month, but after that you became useless!"
Theodor only looked away, his expression bared no shame whatsoever.
Meanwhile, Ena only kept her gaze locked on the tent, paying no mind to the insult thrown her way. She stood up while the other members chatted and quickly made her way inside the tent.
As she did, her eyes widened as she saw Haruo laid down on the floor sweating buckets and breathing heavily. She took no hesitation and immediately went to his said to heal him.
But as she was about to cure him of his sickness, his ability reacted violently—rejecting hers, interpreting it as if it were an attack rather than a cure. Freezing her hand slowly and pushing spikes into her skin.
She held her hand firmly on his wrist—ignoring the pain while her eyes emitted a red hue as she worked her ability. The air around them began to swirl before it exploded into a strong pulse, which knocked Ena backward.
The division members outside felt the slight surge, and each of them activated their own ability. Before rushing into the tent, they drew their weapons and hastily ran inside.
They expected an intruder or an attacker but what they only saw was Ena on the ground. They redirected their gaze toward Haruo, which was freezing the ground around him slowly.
"What happened?"
Leo still gazing on Haruo, while frost formed on his cheek. Tiny shards of ice began to form, but in a slow pace, as if protecting its user from threats.
Leo deactivated his ability, and so did the others—redrawing their blades back. Ena had her eyes widened, staring only toward Haruo. She felt a sense of Deja vu.
"Why is Haruo sick all of sudden, he wasn't like that earlier"
Isaac pointed out while Haruo was laying their unconsciously. Leo took a deep breath before walking closer to Haruo side reaching his hand toward him.
"Let me see—"
Ena grabbed Leo's wrist before he could reach Haruo. The air around them tensed up as she did. Every member suddenly tensed up—Even Haruo's ability became more active.
Her eyes flickered crimson as she shot him a daring look. Her pupils sharpened, her eyes only locked onto Leo.
Everyone—Except Leo—didn't think twice and immediately drew their weapons at her.
She then regained her rationality and realized what she had done. The atmosphere became softer now. And quickly let go of Leo's wrist, they hesitated to redraw their weapons at first, then calmed down a bit and lowered them.
"Oh sorry..." Ena them all a glance before redirecting her gaze back to Haruo.
No one replied to her, with the only exception being the silence they gave her. It was awkward at first before Leo broke the tensity around them.
"Aren't you overprotective, haha.. I was just going to take a look and see if my ability could heal him."
His smile faltered a bit under the pressure.
"Using our abilities on him doesn't work. It just reacts violently when use it. You guy's prepare food, I'll take care of him for the time being."
"Haha.. I see, we'll leave first then. Go out when you hungry.."
They all left the tent and made their way back to the fire. Leaving the two there.
She dragged Haruo somewhere more that doesn't take space and took off his coat. She laid him flat on his back before putting a blanket over him.
She caressed his bangs and held his forehead gently.