As Adam and Kave swore their own oath of vengeance, the team members on the lookout were surveying the surroundings, and for the first time, both Earthlings and Wartopians started to strike up conversations.
It was Sharp and a girl called Yuki who spent most of their time together, far from the ceaseless banter between Ivan and Sergeant Elena, the ongoing tantrum with Tommy, and the endless grimness of Adam and Kave.
Yuki was a girl of small stature, with green, yet dry, hair strands, a strange haircut with undercuts, and an unhealthy love for smoking. It was the moment when she first lit up a cigarette that made Sharp's eyes widen, his nostrils flare, and his breath grow heavier—all the signs of a nicotine-deprived dog.
With instant pity, Yuki opened her pack, which had three cigarettes left, and reluctantly offered one.
"Here, mister," she said, sticking one cigarette out of the pack.
Sharp received it with a trembling hand, held it to his nose, and took a sniff, feeling a strange calmness running through his soul. He closed his eyes and leaned back on the wall, trying to relax for a moment.
"So they smoke in your world, eh, mister?" Yuki asked with her deep, raspy smoker's voice, looking with interest at Sharp, whose eyes looked as exhausted as hers.
Sharp's lips arched into a smile, revealing some wrinkles hidden under his mustache and overgrown beard.
"In every world I've stepped foot on, people smoke," he replied as he opened his eyes.
"Hell, yeah!" Yuki chuckled, offering him a burning match, which she covered with her small hands.
Sharp leaned in, inhaled through the cigarette to light it, and took in the glory of the smoke deep within his lungs.
"That's rich!" he said, commenting on the flavor.
"I grow my own stash," Yuki said, and with a cunning smile, she added, "Next ones aren't for free, mister."
Sharp's smile only grew wider, not expecting to fall into such a trap with the first Earthling he dealt with.
"How many worlds have you been to? What's it like beyond the Rift? You people came from the Rifts, right?" Yuki's demand for payment came fast and strong, without waiting or biding her time.
"I am not sure how we came," Sharp replied and shrugged. "Don't get me wrong, some of what you are asking for is classified, so what I can tell you is that… we weren't supposed to be here."
"Where were you supposed to be then?" she asked curiously.
"We were supposed to be fighting wars for our human race, slaying aliens across any world we stepped on," he said.
"That explains all the Xenos shenanigans," Yuki said, mentioning Elena's encounter with the Alfari.
"I've been to seven worlds aside from my own. I've fought in seven wars, some defensive and some offensive," he added.
"A war for each world you've stepped on? Damn!" Yuki exclaimed.
"That was the job! I had enough merit to retire, exchange it for wealth, become a Privateer lackey, or even join a Knight Order. The problem is, when you follow someone like Sergeant Elena, you sign up for life," Sharp said in self-mockery, not noticing how Yuki's eyes were narrowed.
"Wait! That sounds like Wartopia," she said, and Sharp barely hid his shocked face.
Does everyone in this damn world know about that damned Wartopia thing? He thought to himself, but still maintained a frown.
"Why does everyone keep mentioning that thing?" he asked, as if it were something he could hardly comprehend.
"I don't know, you tell me." She chuckled and dropped it. "It's just this whacked-up story nerds like Megan and those two guys you travel with like to talk about all day. I've seen things, but it's not really my thing. I love peace, saving the environment, and homegrown smokables."
"Sign me up, blessed sister."
Sharp was immediately impressed by Yuki's ideals. Yuki laughed and offered a fist-bump to Sharp, and they hit it off instantly.
Just as they were halfway through their nicotine high, Sharp spotted something at the edge of his vision; through his scope, he saw a Gobzkin walking while holding its side, crossing the intersection three blocks away, and heading west.
"Contact," he said, alerting Yuki in an instant as she looked through her rifle's scope.
"One survived, huh? I thought we were really thorough," Yuki said before switching off her gun's safety. "We gotta drop it before it brings its horde."
"Wait," Sharp stopped her. "They were saying that those things took the woman we were looking for, Megan, right?"
"Yeah…" Yuki answered, but she didn't like where he was going with his thoughts.
"We can follow it to her, right?" he asked.
"Bad idea!" Yuki was instantly against it, but Sharp left his post and went inside, signaling her to hold fire. She only spoke louder in frustration: "Bad idea, mister!"
Sharp went in right away and headed towards the van where Adam and Kave were sitting on its edge, talking to Ivan and Sergeant Elena. He immediately reported the surviving Gobzkin to Elena and Adam.
"Following it? That's madness." Adam himself was the first to refuse: "I tried stalking a group of Gobzkin once. Believe me, these fuckers can smell you from a mile away."
"We tried it too once and walked right into a trap. We barely made it," Ivan also agreed with Adam, showing a scar barely healed across his left arm.
"Well, I'm sure I can track it since it's the best option we have. Maybe she's with the horde, as you suggested," Sharp simply said, but didn't insist on the idea.
But the reaction didn't come from anyone he was addressing; rather, it came from behind him.
"She's what?" Tommy stepped ahead and looked at the group with a grim face. "The Gobzkins got her?"
"No! We didn't say that! Just a theory," Adam stood up, trying to calm him down.
Tommy was no longer listening to Adam, trying to sprint out of the alleyway, but Hammerhead got him by the collar as he was shouting and squirming like a madman.
"Kid!" Sergeant Elena gazed fiercely at him and uttered one word only: "Quiet!"
"Fuck off!" Tommy retorted to Sergeant Elena, completely immune to her stern gaze. His words instantly chilled the atmosphere, drawing a rare, stunned expression onto Elena's face.
Adam and Kave wanted to jump between Elena and Tommy, trying not to get Megan's brother killed yet.
"Calm down, you jerk," Adam said as he took Tommy from Hammerhead and tried to take him away, while smiling at Elena.
"Get off me!" Tommy jerked his hand free from Adam's grip and pushed him away. "Dad was right about you! You're a fucking wuss."
"Alright, let's not mention…"
"Coward!"
"Okay. I'll forgive you just this…"
"Pussy!"
Adam stopped reacting and closed his eyes patiently. The only thing that was keeping him from doing a number on the kid was…
"What are you gonna do about it, huh?" Tommy still kept going and even tried to shove Adam. "Dad always knew you're just a spineless piece of shit. That's why he never let you marry Megan. He always knew the likes of you were no good, and thank the Lord that pregnancy didn't happen. He would have lost his mind if she had been pregnant with your child."
With everything revealed all at once, Adam simply stared at Tommy without saying much. Even Kave reacted with an "Oh!" as he realized the reason for the breakup only now.
Six months ago, Megan stopped showing up to the games, and Adam was always on edge. They then went quiet for a week during a vacation when Megan went home out of state, and Adam took a plane after her. After he returned, they had already broken things up, and even after she returned to the games, things were rather stale between them. She even switched factions to the Eldritch Hive and bought a large Cthulhu miniature.
The details were obscure to Kave, but he could put two and two together. They probably disagreed about the pregnancy, and things went south from there.
"Alright, you're done?"
Adam's voice came out dry, his eyes staring at Tommy without blinking.
"Hardly! Dad is…"
Tommy still wanted to go on at Adam, but he was cut off.
"Dead?" Adam asked with a cold tone. "Rotting in a ditch somewhere? Eaten by a Gobzkin? Or maybe walking around with a blight worm in his head?"
Without thinking, Tommy's fist flew at Adam's face, lightning-fast, but Adam effortlessly evaded it, before catching Tommy's arm, twisting it, tackling the angry teenager, and pinning him down with a choking hold.
"See that? I can be an asshole too."
Adam's asshole behavior completely subdued Tommy, whose behavior gained him no sympathy from either the Wartopians or the Survivors.
He remained on the ground after Adam let him go, covering his eyes with his arm, and biting his lip with obvious dejection. He had a lot of emotion stirring within him, ranging from desperation to anger, but the greatest among them were fear and loss.
Adam looked away from Tommy, but he still winked at Kave, who was closer to Tommy than he was, to take care of the kid.
He then joined Elena and Ivan as Kave went to pick Tommy up. They then returned to their conversation.
"I don't want to risk your lives, but I think I should do something about those Gobzkin. They may be the last lead we have to finding her," Adam spoke to Ivan.
"I'd talk you out of this if I could," Ivan said, looking intently towards Adam.
"We can at least try. If it goes wrong, we can still escape." Adam made up his mind and turned to Elena: "Sergeant, I trust we'll make good use of Corporal Sharp in this task."
"Well, orders are orders, I assume," Elena shrugged.
Adam then turned to Sharp, who gave a nod, indicating that he was okay. But just as they were about to act, Kave's voice rang out loudly:
"SON OF A BITCH! You should have said that from the start!"
As everyone turned, Kave slapped Tommy angrily on the back of his head, causing Tommy's red eyes to well up with tears.
Kave then turned to Adam, pointing at Tommy, as he spoke angrily:
"Come and listen to this shit."
"What's wrong?" Everyone turned to Kave and Tommy as the latter held a crude Gobzkin spearhead in his hand, probably made of bones.
"Just…" Kave wanted to say something, but he then turned to Tommy and shouted, "Show him! Hurry!"
Tommy stood up and walked two steps towards Adam.
"Megan gave me this so that I could awaken," he said, presenting Adam with the spearhead.
"You awakened the system?" Adam asked.
Tommy only nodded, so Adam looked at the spearhead and barely touched it, and a system pop-up emerged.
Just as Adam saw the description, he looked at Tommy and wanted to cuss at him, but he immediately started to act.
"Change of plans!" he said right away. "Everyone to the cars. We're going after the Gobzkin. Tommy rides with us."
Adam's orders were swiftly executed the moment they were uttered, and the students watched as Adam assumed full command of the military team in an instant.
Ivan grew curious, so he approached Tommy, asking to see the spearhead. What he saw made him utter an "Oh!" of understanding, and he then completely changed his plans as well.
——————————
[ Spear of the Hobgoblin Hunter] < Uncommon Spear (broken) >
A spear that once belonged to a Hobgoblin hunter, imbued by the relentless spirit of its owner to pursue its prey.
Rune of Tracking — A rune that grants its bearer the ability to concentrate on a chosen target, developing an almost supernatural awareness of its location, thus diminishing its chances of evading pursuit.
——————————
Liked what you read? You can always read ✨MOAR!✨
Read NEXT CHAPTER(S) on >>> https://patreon.com/donovels
Wanna chat, get spoilers, report typos, be notified on chapters, or just hang out? Join >>> https://discord.gg/rAyrWnD
All my links and libraries >>> https://bio.link/donovel