11. Penalty Quest (2)

Liam and I looked at each other, out of instinct, I grabbed Liam's arm to stop him from mindlessly rushing in. I was sure that was Jay's voice. He's in the same area but different location. What is it that he's fighting which is giving off such powerful waves of presence? As blood started dripping down my nose, I breathed heavily from my mouth.

"Assess the situation. Don't rush in just like that," I barely spit that out of my mouth.

On the other hand, Liam was throwing up blood. I realised the snake's mucous on my body was helping mitigate the presence's impact on my body. The dour air around Jay and one other person was starting to intensify as if the premature birth of a calamity was sending the space awry.

"Get up," I dragged Liam with me. The scene in front of us was of one-sided pilfering. There were so many tiny cuts on Jay and that one person who stood like a shield in front of Jay. They were giving it their all and I realised something at the back of my head. I may have the main character privilege that allows me to be reckless to a certain extent, but the damage done to me is far less than what the original people of this world have to suffer. It is not the same for them. Like a glass of cold water splashed on my face, I felt my heart feeling the tremors of fear instilled by that enormous presence. Frozen like a corrupted code, Liam pushed me aside.

The presence was coming from inside the meteor. It is one of those meteors that fell when I first came here. It was surrounded by the vines and tiny greens around it, the trees were leaning toward it. Just what was their quest? This far surpasses the 'A' rank. So the system can make errors? I saw the unfolding flower underneath the meteor that rose from under the ground as if to protect the meteor.

[Poison mist has affected your movement. Neutralizing effect to a certain extent.]

It makes sense, meteors are surrounded by poison mist, making them unapproachable as if they were locked areas in a game. No wonder I'm frozen while Liam's lying on the ground barely holding onto himself.

"ARCHE," he called his acquaintance's name. I don't think that's just an acquaintance looking at how desperately Liam was trying to move with his willpower alone.

This is a forest. What do I have in my surrounding to help? The vines? The plant blood? Does it have any medicinal properties? There's no way to know unless I do this but I can't die even by accident here. In the urgency of the situation, it slipped my mind to see what they were fighting. I glanced at the creatures that looked similar to the cotton ball but more in a human child-like form. They looked as innocent as vicious as they were. The fairy-like construct of their bodies allowed them the freedom to dance in the air as they liked easily. Each movement of their limbs lifted them in the air and as if gravity were losing its power, they softly landed on the leaves and branches before once again floating in the air for a short while. The mystical trail that they left behind was shimmering with certain fine particles.

Something in that scene didn't add up. Instead of attacking they were trying to soothe the restless meteor. Their presence seemed almost as small as a rock in my path. I noticed the carcasses that were almost buried under the dirt that was flung into the air by the meteor's enormous presence. Those were covered with dirt and blood. They have to be the targets but then why is this happening?

[Returning you to suburbs.]

Finally the system message, with a sigh of relief, I closed my eyes and collapsed beside Liam, losing my energy.

"Are you even alive?" Liam tapped on my face multiple times, goading me, making me open my eyes when I saw the speedy lights running across his image. I'm glad we're going back alive. Hang in there, Jay and... Arche too. As if that name sounded familiar.

***

In the building, I woke up first. It was dark outside and the moonlight shone through the holes. Liam looked like he had healed, it's great that he has a healing skill or whatever he used as medicine. Jay should be right where I left him before the quest. Coughing the remaining dust out of my system, I stood up when Liam tripped me down. With an already painful body, I groaned in pain, rolling around because it hurt so much.

"Swallow one of these," He put 3 flowers in my hand, "Don't chew, just swallow it," he said again and passed out. I'll get back to him later for that trip down to hell, I swallowed one flower. Despite just meeting him before the quest, I felt like he was reliable but at the same time a little unsure about whether it was true. The pain in my body started to dissipate enough that I could stand up. I started looking for Jay and Arche. The other two flowers, I guessed, were for them.

Without a sound, I looked at the crushed glasses and windows, the doors all open yet not a single person was around. The vehicles outside were crashed and busted while the stench of rotting degradable was in the air just as much as the freshness of a new era. I found Jay lying on the floor near the roots but I was glad he didn't touch them. He was still breathing but his flesh wounds were bleeding. None of his bones was broken but I could see shallow cuts along with internal damage. Stains of blood across his face. I stuffed the flower in his mouth and picked him up. It's better to stick together as I carried him back to Liam who was sitting up with the support of the wall. Despite both of us having the main character attribute, somehow it seemed as if I was the only one who wasn't as damaged as them.

"Arche?" Liam examined me.

"I'll bring him now," I let him know.

Walking towards that helical staircase, I saw him panting heavily and trying to stay awake. A lot of blood flowed out of his deep wound and other cuts.

"Swallow this," I handed the flower to him but he didn't have any strength left. I stuffed it down his throat forcefully while he coughed, "Stop. Don't you dare puke that out," I advised.

Putting his arm around my shoulder and supporting him, we walked back to Jay and Liam, "Liam's friend?" I asked on the short way.

"Yeah but I'm not sure," answered Arche, heaving for air. Like deja vu, I felt a sense of connection with him.

Sitting him down beside Liam, I stretched my back to feel the incoming muscle soreness. There was not a moment of rest in an apocalypse as I looked at the entrance of the building. There were creatures of the night roaming about, probably looking for suitable prey. In the brevity of the situation, I was a little unorganised while gazing at them from the floor above.

They walked on two legs like humans and howled like werewolves. With fur all over their bodies, they were closer to werewolves than humans. Their sense of smell seemed to be their primary sense as I saw them sniffing for prey. Arche held his breath and chewed on his lip while Liam wrapped a bandage around his torso.

The smell of blood attracted their attention when they started sniffing near the building entrance, one after the other, they invited themselves in.

Expand!

I gripped my sword tightly and glanced at Liam, 'Please don't make any moves. I'll be fine'.

Crawling to the other side of the floor, away from them, I threw a piece of broken glass on the werewolf. It's fur shimmered under the moonlight as his eyes landed on me. In a split second, he covered the distance from the ground to the high first floor in a single leap, balancing himself on all four limbs at the edge.

"Yohan?" He said.

Surprised, I looked at him more closely because in the end, they were human before changing their entire being. There had to be certain similarities in their human form and beast form. I started recollecting my memories but I was more shocked at how blank my head became.

I didn't remember anything. My memories were gone. There were holes in them, some were not in chronology. What is this?

"Who are you?" I asked with my sword in front of me, standing in a defense form I picked up along the way. I was scared because I didn't remember but I have to protect Liam and the others.

"Well," He smiled and attacked me with his claws, as if he'll enjoy slicing me. The contempt exuding from him felt so personal, was I ever bad to someone in the past?

While standing in a daze subconsciously, Liam's sword came flying in from behind him, piercing his neck. The blood splattered on my face and as if that blood contained clairvoyance, I saw a part of my memory that I didn't know I had.