As i stepped through the gate i stumbled forward not expecting to immeditaly appear on the other side.
- Slip
"Woah!" I let out a yelp as i slipped in the mud.
My body froze mid air as a hand grabbed me by my shoulder, it was Zephyr.
"Is it your first time using gates?"
"What do you think?"
"I think that you're embarassed."
"Shut the fuck up."
Pulling back from him i looked around as i tried to wipe off the mud off my shoes brushing it against the grass.
Everything here was empty, with dead trees being the only thing with some resemblance oife
It was way more shabbier than in the city.
The surroundings were quiet, covered in a foggy membrane that the destroyed buildings wore.
One could call it a ghost town after seeing it but to call it a town was quite a stretch.
With not a single soul in sight, i asked. "Where are we?"
"We're still in the Heathgrove." He said as he threw away some rubble that covered the gate. "Just in the outskirts."
'just how big is this city'
Although i saw a part of it during my reincarnation when i was floating above it, it was so dark that i only managed to catch a glimpse of it's centre part.
For there to be outskirts, it must have been spanning dozens of kilometers in all directions.
It could even be a country.
'maybe a map will help'
*
I didn't know how long we have been walking, the surroundings stayed the same no matter where i looked as the sun was already starting to set washing over us with its fiery glow.
"What did you do?"
"Hm?"
"How did you manage to win against me?"
Zephyr asked me, his face seemed emotionless not matching his tone at all as he seemed genuinely interested in how i won.
My lips curled up slightly.
"I have a small trick i learned but i won't tell you unless you beat me"
"..."
"What? You think it's too hard?"
He stared at me as his loom changed from excitement to pity.
"I'm sorry to say that.. but i was holding myself back severly during our spar to give you a chance.
If you want to, we can spar using our full strenght when we return-"
"No thanks." I cut him off immediately as my mood turned sour.
'so fucking unfair'
I had supposedly learned a cheat like skill that people at my age shouldn't have and yet he said he needed to hold back for me to defeat him?
My ego probably got the best of me as i remembered him winning against the ice twin who had overpowered me without any effort.
'damn prodigies'
And yet i supposedly was one of them due to us being called something as stupid as 'generation of geniuses', so corny.
What a joke.
- Growl
I rubbed my empty stomach as we reached our destination.
It was one of the destroyed houses that didn't seem to stand out from the rest except for a small red ribbon tied on one of the wooden poles.
"We're here." Marco spoke, his voice seeming more tamed than before as if he lost his usual playfullness.
Pulling off the ribbon from the pole, he wrapped his hand around it as it was slowly pushed down into the ground without much effort.
- Rumble
Our surroundings shook as the rubble lifted itself revealing..
'more basements huh'
"This is driving me nuts." I mumbled tiredly.
"I agree with your statement but we shouldn't let our guard down, if something goes wrong then prepare to run."
Zephyr said, probably reassuring me.
Not paying attention to us, Marco stepped forward motioning with his hand to follow.
Although hesitant, we all followed him which would be better than staying outside any longer than needed.
The moment i felt the warm air inside of there, it felt as if my body had begun to melt all the exshaustion and pain i had experienced today.
'how nice'
My eyes started to slowly close as various fragnant smells entered my nostrils.
A minty scent mixed with some of the flowers i saw in the academies garden.
With my heightened senses it all started to infiltrate my brain making me dizzy.
- Slap!
"Augh!" I screamed as a stinging pain spread out from my cheek.
In front of me stood Ash with her hand raised as if prepared to hit me again.
"Are you crazy!?"
"Hmph, you finally snapped out of it huh?" Crossing her arms she smirked. "That's pathetic to see you influenced by the intoxicants so easily."
'this bi- girl'
My veins popped out and my mouth opened preparing to start cursing her until the words she said echoed in my mind.
'Intoxicants?'
Did she perhaps mean drugs?
I didn't hear that term often making me frown.
If those were drugs that influenced me just moments ago, then that would mean the place we entered was most likely some sort of drug den.
The shady nature of this place made my thoughts clearer.
'the person were meeting is not someone normal'
Taking one last look at her glaring daggers at me, i looked to the side ignoring her as we calmly descended the stairs.
A pair of eyes that i felt on me seemed to be gone aswell settling us in a dull silence.
As we reached the last steps, a dim purple light came into our view revealing the place these ruins hid.
It was a house, no.. something akin to a store with the way the surroundings were decorated.
The space wasn't that big, or it seemed so with the amount of trinkets placed around here as if it was made by some shaman.
The walls decorated by various masks with smeared patterns gave of a feeling of mystery and distortion as their shapes were clearly not meant for human usage.
On the floor was a big leather carpet making squeaking sounds each time someone took a step.
'annoying'
While the counter and shelfes were packed with many different weapons and tools that seemed to have no purpose.
Picking one up, i was a little confused.
A bone shovel with sharp spikes on its tip aswell as cloth wrapped around the middle of the bone.
'what is this even for-'
"My~ my~ we got quite the young visitors today don't we?"
"Yes we do."
I flinched after hearing the crisp voice of a man coming from behind a bead curtain.
As my eyes landed on him, his locked with mine and without any warning i felt something on my leg.
Something big and long.
I looked down to meet a pair of golden eyes staring at me who'se body started to shake.
"I kindly ask of you to put that back on the shelf."
The snake that was going up my leg snatched away the trinket bringing it to the mysterious man who with his ridiculous appearance came over to Marco and..
"Ugh!"
"Ah how i missed you, my heart started to throb when i saw you again, oh thank heavens youre allright.*
Embraced Marco while shedding tears.