Chapter 15: Misery

"Let's go back a bit, we can't walk through the plains with this large carcass and we can't just waste it either."

With that said, Michael carried the bear's body back into the Wild Stone Mountain Range, and Fernando followed him weakly, his hand holding onto his midsection. He had not yet healed enough to walk normally. They would take this time to consume the beast, heal themselves, and strengthen themselves a bit.

It had been about five days since their little squabble with the mother Stone Mount Bear, and they had both healed up well. The dried corpse of the bear lay in the corner of the cave. They walked out of their temporary residence and headed to the Desolate Plains. They would have to cross it if they wanted to reach Spring Berry Town.

The Desolate Plains was unlike everything else in the Twilight Zone. Its land was desolate, there was nothing there, no life at all, just cracked earth as far as the eye could see. Except for the occasional stupid animal that walked in unknowingly, there was no fauna or flora. There were no settlements either as the ground could not produce any resources. It was said that ages ago, a battle between two Morningstar Magi had not only sealed off the Twilight Zone from the rest of the subterranean realm, but it had also caused this dead zone called the Desolate Plains.

Michael's felt stressed, he didn't have his father's ability to turn into mist and be carried by the wind. He and Fernando had to walk step by step. The lack of any markers had made Michael mentally exhausted. He could not see the end in sight and even though he knew it would not be long, he felt the urge to lay and forget his initial mission.

"Fuck! Fernando let's run the rest, I don't want to be in this god-forsaken land any longer."

Michael looked to his left and saw a similarly depressed Fernando.

They picked up their pace and ran at superhuman speeds. They brought with them a trail of dust as they galloped the remaining distance.

A few hours later they finally saw some signs of life, some wild boars grazed on weeds and mushrooms that sprouted from the sun-deprived ground. Michael easily hopped on one's back and slammed its head, the boar fell limply on its side.

Michael skillfully cut into the boar's neck and he and Fernando put their bare hands into it. They sucked the boar's blood until its carcass became dry. The other boar's became afraid and wanted to run away.

"Go catch that large one over there."

Michael pointed towards a running boar and instructed Fernando, they had walked enough, it was about time they got a mount.

Michael ran ahead and picked out the largest one, his hands pressed firm onto its side. He forced it to lay and grabbed its left tusk.

Michael looked into its defiant eyes and increased his hold on its head, he had to conquer the beast prior or it would become annoying in the future. After about a minute of threatening gestures the boar acquiesced

He allowed it to get up but now with his firm grip, the animal wasn't going anywhere. He pulled out some rope and passed some to Fernando. Fernando followed Michael's instructions and cut the rope into two. He knotted the ropes to each tusk as they would be useful to lead the wild boar.

With their new vehicles, they quickly made their way towards Spring Berry Town. But, what they found was no longer Spring Berry Town. Although the sunstone still shone proudly, nothing else resembled the original, quaint, town. The berry fields at its outskirts were destroyed, the soil overturned. Buildings here and there had been destroyed by spells, their debris mixed with the remains of the town's original inhabitants.

Michael's gaze intensified as he looked around for the cause of this attack, but he found none. He found out quickly that there were no signs of living beings remaining in the town as he passed through its roads. While Michael was weary, Fernando was in complete disbelief. His mind was dazed as he heard his family's voices. He heard his father's strict tone, his mother's kind words, and his sister's advice.

They passed by some streets until they came across a building which had been razed to the ground. Some pieces of flesh could be found here and there, stuck to the house's material.

Tears fell and moistened the unpaved road. Michael looked at Fernando, he too didn't believe that the dark elves would attack this small town, but reality was truly cruel, it would always find a way to shock you.

"Michael."

Fernando looked up and spoke through a shaky voice. He gulped after his first word, tears threatened to continue falling.

"What?"

"If I was here, would I have been able to change anything?"

It seemed that Fernando was stuck in a dilemma. He wanted to blame himself, yet he couldn't find the reasoning for it.

"No, these spells seem to be at least at the level of a Rank 1 Magus. You would have only become another victim of their cruelty. I'm.. I'm sorry for your loss."

Towards the end, Michael shifted his gaze, he couldn't meet this young man's aimless eyes.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Can you wait for me, I want to dig them some proper graves, and about the spring berry juice, I don't think I can fulfill that promise anymore."

Fernando looked at Michael's uncomfortable figure and tried to change the subject a bit. He laughed light heartedly as he mentioned the berry juice.

"Haha, that's alright. Here, I'll help you out."

Michael tied the ropes to a windowsill nearby and helped Fernando do the same for his mount.

"No, Michael it's alright I want to do it myself. I owe them this much."

"Alright, then. I'll look around for a bit, I'll see you in about an hour."

Michael understood him, he wouldn't want anyone touching his family's corpses either, but it was the thought that counts so he had still asked him.

Michael strutted around the town and headed directly for the center. Any important document, knowledge, or treasures would be held in the towers.

Michael walked up to the first Magus tower.

'Mother Box, hack into the tower and disarm any traps, also, show me the blueprint.'

The Mother Box had many applications and after it had consumed such a large array of information on runes, it had the ability to break into and take control of structures like a Magus tower.

The runes carved into the magus tower blinked three times before its stone door opened on its own.

Michael walked through all the rooms quickly as he didn't find anything valuable. The library was at a similar level to his father's and Michael scanned and recorded all its information. The treasury was empty, but Michael had already prepared himself for such a result. He continued on his way, recording all the scrolls he came across, and looting the occasional lucky potion.

About an hour of exploration, he returned to Fernando's original residence.

"Fernando."

"What happened? Did you find out what happened?"

Fernando opened his eyes wide, this, he really wanted to know. He needed an outlet to direct his rage towards.

"It was indeed the dark elves. They wanted to expand quickly and hold the Spring Berry Town's people as hostages against the Academy. It seems that instead of surrendering, the Magi here fought with the dark elves and drove them back, at the expense of the townspeople's deaths. It seems to have been a stupid move. The ego of Magi is something else, haah. Now the remaining Magi and surviving townspeople should be at Black Rock Town; they headed there with the Academy's people. The dark elves should be taken care of by now, though, as all this started a month ago."

"The dark elves, huh."

Fernando finally found a target for his hatred, though Michael found it wrongly placed. First of all the dark elves should be pretty much all dead, so Fernando would have no actual enemies. Secondly, it was not purely the dark elves' fault, as they only wanted to hold the town hostage, it was the Magi that exacerbated the situation causing Fernando's family to bite the dust.

Michael would withhold this as Fernando was still young, he would hopefully understand it himself in the future.