Vengeance Upon Fate - Chapter 32
…
“Hey uh….”
“Kurogane I..”
“It’s fine, I understand how you feel. I should have communicated better before acting on my own. I apologize.”
“No no..!”
“I-It’s all good man! We’re just amazed at what just went down.”
“Are you both alright?”
“I can still walk to an extent. Hiroki seems badly hurt however.”
“My left leg and chest is bruised, and I think I fractured an arm as well.”
“Wait here.”
Kurogane went to the bag Reo gave him brought back a glass vial with a light blue liquid substance inside.
“Here, take a sip and give the rest to your brother.”
“Right. Thank you.”
“A potion? Dear lord, You’re a lifesaver!”
Taro took a light gulp then treated the rest to Hiroki.
“Amazing, I can already feel my bruises and scratches fading away!”
“Same here!” Said Hiroki, who was slowly able to bring himself up.
“Ahh!”
Squinting in pain, Hiroki grabbed onto his left arm.
“If you fractured something, it might take a little under a day to fully heal.”
“I see. Let’s get that arm of his wrapped up.”
Kurogane nodded and tore off some of his cloak from the bottom, leaving tatters on it throughout the lower portion.
Taro received it and wrapped it around Hiroki’s forearm and shoulder so it could rest easily.
{Ow! Ow! Oweeee…}
“Hang in there bud.”
After finishing up, the three were ready to move.
“Alright, let’s get moving. It’s too risky staying here any longer.”
“I agree, we might have attracted unwanted attention.”
“The last thing I need right now is another fight. Phew.”
The three ventured onward for what seemed like half an hour.
“Say Kurogane, what class do you use?”
Kurogane did not even have to answer, since Taro immediately replied to Hiroki’s seemingly odd question.
“It’s the Slayer class dummy, how could you not tell after all that went down earlier?
“Ohhhoho, right… Hehe, my bad.”
“Do you both have a class?”
“Well, not yet. Hiroki and I still need a little more experience before it’s official.”
“Yeah, I can’t wait to get unlock an element too! Imagine how awesome we will become!”
Hiroki wiggled his fingers with an obnoxiously evil grin on his face. It was weird enough to make Taro stare at him with an uneasy expression.
“So none of you reached your “Awakening” yet?”
“No, not yet. Taro just turned 18 and I’m still 17, which admittedly is kinda late… But we never wanted to be adventurers till a few months ago.”
“I see.”
“Hhmm, why are you so interested in us all of a sudden?” Said Hiroki with a snarky look on his face.
{Dnnnggg}
{Owwwhhhh!}
Taro karate chopped the top of Hiroki’s helmet.
“Pardon this thing will ya?”
“Who you calling “thing” drumstick?
“Want another round of hits buddy?”
“Oh no, your “sticky fingers” might snap. Don’t want that happening now do we?”
“Calm down both of you, we can’t be too loud this late at the night in a jungle like this.” Wuxiaworld for visiting.
“My bad.”
“Sorry…”
Seconds later, the three finally came across a small piece of shaded land with two boulder-like stones a few feet apart from each other.
“Yo, this place should do the job for tonight.”
“Yeah, what do you say Kurogane?”
Suddenly, a significantly loud grumbling sound occurred.
Hiroki froze in place then slightly blushed, giving himself away completely.
“Sometimes I think that stomach has a mind of its-”
Another loud gurgling sound occurred, but this time originating from Taro’s stomach, causing him to freeze in place as well.
“This place is fine, we can settle down here for the night. I have food packed, so don’t worry.”
Giggling in relief, both brothers lit up in smiles and nodded, then looked at each other in excitement.
Around twenty minutes had passed, and the three were now sitting and leaning against the stones with a campfire setup in-between. Kurogane got up from his area and started to do a streak of push ups.
Both brothers munched on the sandwiches and drank from another water pouch Kurogane had in his bag.
“Chill with the exercise bud, didn’t we get enough from that battle earlier?”
“Honestly, I can hardly even get up now. I need to get myself some sleep soon.”
Kurogane finished his pushups then walked over to sit by the fire with the other two.
“Whatever we did earlier wasn’t quite enough for me.”
“You’re really something else man.”
“Woo zee, no kidding.”
{Om nom nom}
“Man, these are good!”
“Ummhh, definitely! Who even made these?”
“Someone I met in my hometown.”
“Ah, this person must be very special.”
“Yeah. I would consider this person important to me.”
“Hold up, my man got himself a girl?!”
{Tnnnng}
“AHCK.”
“Stop making assumptions silly.”
“Urgh, that actually hurt!”
…
“No, he’s more of a fatherly figure to me.”
“I see, I would love to meet him sometimes. Must be a great guy.”
Kurogane, who was looking down for a while now, nodded then looked at two of them.
“If you don’t mind me asking, what drove the two of you to become adventurers all of a sudden?”
“Well for starters Hiroki is trying to get girls.”
Hiroki blushed and shouted in return.
“Hey! That’s not it! I swear!”
Kurogane raised an eyebrow out of suspicion.
“Then what was the reason?”
“Well, the thing is, we lost our mom when we were little due to an illness. Our father was always independent since then and would spend most of his days outside on business trips… he still does till today.”
“Why would he do that instead of spending time with the two of you?”
Taro replied to Kurogane this time.
“The way we see it, he’s burying himself in work as a way of escapism. He could never get over our mother’s death, let alone marry another woman.”
“I see.”
(So these two are on their own just like myself…)
“But yeah, big bro and I decided that becoming an adventurer was the best way to learn responsibility and self sustenance. On top of that, exploring and venturing is lots of fun you know!”
“We can agree on that one for sure.”
“You think adventuring is fun? Don’t the risks and dangers worry you sometimes?”
“We’re fully aware, but for whatever reason, it doesn’t bother us too much.”
“I guess it’s because there’s always a positive side to everything, whether it be adventuring far away or a moment in our daily lives.”
“A positive side..?”
Kurogane felt as if he heard something that he was in dire need of for a long time.
“Yo, you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“So why did you become an adventurer? Asked Taro.
Kurogane looked down and replied in a depressing tone.
“Just to survive.”
That’s all? There has to be more to it, right?” said Hiroki.
“Since the loss of my mother… I lost my purpose to live as well. Nothing mattered to me anymore. As a result, I lived a life with no ambition but to waste my time passing the days meaninglessly.”
Kurogane’s voice began to raise, briefly startling the other two as they could feel his emotional tension.
“I’m so sorry about your mother…”
“She must have meant the world to you. We felt the same with ours.”
Kurogane placed his hand on his forehead, since he started feeling uneasy after bringing up such a topic.
“Look Hiroki, let’s change the subject. This is too much for him right now.”
“No, it’s okay… Don’t feel sorry. I should be the one apologizing. I doubted you two from the very start and made you both worry a lot.”
“That’s not true Kurogane. We were right all along since the moment we met you. What you did for us back there proved how much of an outstanding hero you are.”
“Yea, you’re just as reliable and trustworthy as we thought you were! I would never feel unsafe around you at this point honestly.”
Kurogane watched in amazement. No one had ever said such kind words to him in all the declining years of his life. Truly, it was a different experience he never imagined he’d ever live to see.
“I’m far from being worthy of such praise… but thank you… both of you. I’m grateful I came along this far with you two by my side.”
“Did he just.. smile?!”
“It wasn’t a dream this time…”
Both brothers looked at each other in excitement and grinned.
Kurogane blushed lightly then turned his head away since he suddenly felt awkward.
“We got you now Kurogane! Let’s see that smile widen shall we? C’mon, we’re waiiitinnnggg!” Hiroki, who was now next to Kurogane, elbowed him gently out of temptation.
Hiroki could feel the intimidating stare of his brother emerge behind him and immediately dashed back to his seating area to avoid another potential hit on the head.
“Hehe, woopsie..”
Kurogane pondered on what Reo told him, now somewhat closer to understanding his advice.
“Perhaps he was right all along. There are some people I can trust in this world.”
“Say, what should we do when we get back?”
“Have a drink together, that’s what!”
“So down yo!”
“You’ll join us too, right Kurogane?”
“Yea, I wouldn’t mind at all.”
“Alllriiight!!”
The three talked, laughed and relaxed for a while longer until they were ready to put out the fire and sleep for the night.
