Chapter 99 - Yet Another Night Terror

Rynold woke up to the sound of... Well, nothing.

It was a quiet morning and, upon waking up, Rynold looked up and saw the empty ceiling. There really was nothing to note except how sore he was.

'Well,' Rynold thought as he blinked, 'that's kinda weird.'

Trying to stretch, he was greeted with body aches from random parts of his body. It truly was an odd occurrence, one that he surely hasn't expected. It wasn't like he did some extremely strenuous activity the night before.

One thing for sure, though, Rynold hasn't woken up like this from his bed in such a long time. Oftentimes, he woke up because some person purposefully woke him up, or he had fallen to the ground after passing out on a desk in the workshop.

Shuffling the covers along, Rynold soon stood up with his two feet.

His body ached at every movement he tried to make, but, ultimately, he bore it down. It was just a little body ache, after all; hardly a problem for a seasoned warrior such as himself.

Rynold walked to his personal bathroom and took off his clothes for a quick shower. It wasn't really an interesting process. But, once he took off his clothes, something donned on him.

'Shit, not again.'

Staring at the shirt, Rynold noticed that it was tattered beyond recognition. Tears and random rips dotted the entirety of the shirt, making it unwearable from this point on.

'You're kidding me, right?' Rynold thought as he poked his hand through one of the gigantic holes, 'Why does this keep happening to me...'

Another night terror. Rynold hadn't gotten one in the past 2 or so months. However, after every time, the main victim was always the clothes that he wore that night.

Funnily enough, at one point, Rynold woke up in the workshop and wasn't aware he had a night terror that night. To which, Neana brazenly walked into the room on the same day. And, suffice it to say, it ended up being one of the most awkward experiences for both of them.

Rynold let out a deep sigh as he entered the shower.

Turning on the faucet to activate the fire runes that would heat the water, his mind wandered as he waited. He thought back on how or why would these night terrors occur. And, supposedly, what conditions would trigger them.

Rynold made an honest effort into thinking about the reasons for his night terrors. However, it was practically the most useless thing he had ever thought about.

Because of the nature of the night terrors, Rynold had no logical basis on how to explain the reoccurring phenomenon. All he could do was twiddle his thumbs as he waited for the shower water to heat up.

After taking a shower and putting on some clothes, Rynold headed out to the penthouse courtyard. From there, he boarded his personal floating platform and headed down onto the lower levels.

His first stop: the Library.

Rynold soon arrived at his destination, alighting as soon as the floating platform stopped. Opening the door that stood before him, Rynold saw Margareth hard at work.

Filing documents with somewhat swift and precise movements, Rynold approached Margareth carefully. It was bad enough that Jack was thrown down by furniture, which Rynold didn't wish for that to happen to him.

He lightly tapped on the wooden table that had noticeable dents and grooves on it.

Grabbing the blonde elf's attention, Rynold immediately got to explaining his decision and the plans he had from this point onward.

"So, what do you think?" Rynold asked as he ended his explanation.

"My Lord...," Margareth sounded hesitant and doubtful, "I advise you not to take such a risk so willingly. If ever something bad happens, I would have to take drastic measures to maintain peace within the Tree."

"Oh?" Rynold responded, surprised. "Do I hear a slight hint of concern in your words, Margareth? That doesn't sound like you."

He mocked the Librarian's sudden words of concern and care that were out of character for her. It wasn't always that Rynold had heard something like that from the blonde elf.

Seeing as how she was caught speechless, Rynold continued.

"You don't have to worry about anything happening. I'm sure being there would be no big deal," Rynold suddenly paused midway through his thought. He suddenly realized something that would explain Margareth's odd behavior.

"Unless... you know something that I don't?" Rynold raised an eyebrow in suspicion, "Didn't you talk to Leo before he teleported out of the Tree before?"

"My Lord," Margareth's expression stiffened, "Unfortunately, whatever information he had disclosed to me before was utterly meaningless. He simply asked how to teleport to his home. However, the expression that he was wearing at the time seemed as if something were terribly amiss."

Rynold raised his hand to his chin and thought as to what that meant. Conclusively, though, it meant nothing. Well, nothing Rynold could ever deduce in the limited information that he had.

"Regardless of whatever Leo was feeling at the time," Rynold responded in a carefree voice, "There's really nothing that would change my mind. I'll leave the Tree to you as always. I'll be back before you know it!"

Without waiting for Margareth to respond, Rynold left. Actually, he didn't even have to wait for one, seeing as how she got back to work as soon as he stopped speaking.

Moving on, Rynold stepped back on the floating platform and activated it.

The next destination: the Residential District.

After a short moment, Rynold found himself back to where he was the day before. Unfortunately, though, he didn't know which way to go from there.

Since Neana had led the way and Rynold just followed her, he couldn't remember which path they took. Despite his intricate knowledge and intuition, the best he could do right now was to go by instinct.

Soon enough, Rynold found himself lost in the Residential District.

Lo and behold, guessing his way through the place may not be the best idea ever. Since most of the buildings looked the same, Rynold couldn't even guess which place he's been to before.

Without having any other choice, Rynold started to ask around. He asked the elves that were walking past him and some stall owners too. Luckily enough, they seem to have directed him the right way.

Walking along a semi-familiar path, Rynold found himself in an alleyway. The most recent person that he asked seems to direct this place as a shortcut to where Oliver and the rest were staying at.

As Rynold followed that elf's instructions without a doubt, he walked along without a care in the world. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, getting robbed in broad daylight, of course.

'Are you for fucking real, right now?' Rynold thought to himself as a bunch of hooded figures seemed to surround both entrances of the alleyway.

Then, another hooded figure jumped down from a nearby ledge and pointed a knife at Rynold's back.

"Hand over all your belongings," the hooded figure nearest to Rynold spoke in a deep, musky voice.

Contrary to how the robbers expected Rynold would react, he simply turned around and laughed.

Out loud.

"You guys seriously think you could rob me like that? HAH!" Rynold laughed while looking directly at the hooded figures from both ends of the street approach.

"Oh, wow, you guys actually do think you can just rob me," his tone slightly changed to a wonderful surprise, "Well, let me educate you on how you should've done your homework before doing something like this."

Like a mirage, Rynold grabbed the knife by the blade that the robber was holding. Since his hand was constantly under the Mana Gauntlets' influence, his hands moved with unnatural speed.

Not giving time for the robber to react, Rynold immediately crushed the blade and snapped it into two. By simply grasping the blade firmly, he was able to do such a thing with no problems.

The robber that held the knife instantly inched back in utter dumbfoundedness. While the two that were watching on the side saw their mate step back, they instantly charged at Rynold.

Just by watching how they moved, Rynold took a single step back, instantly dodging the two that were charging with reckless abandon.

Rynold scoffed at the sight of the two of them falling down on the ground after accidentally bumping into each other.

"Charging in without caring for your form would make an unnecessary risk of losing your balance," Rynold started to educate as he folded his arms around his chest. "Well, pulling a stunt like this was already a risky thing, to begin with."

He shook his head in disappointment, thinking about why would somebody do something like this.

"So, any other attempts before I beat your asses off the street?" Rynold watched as the one left standing was trembling in fear.

Rynold clicked his tongue in disappointment before grabbing the nearest robber by the collar.

"You guys really should have thought this through."