Return of the Woodcutter

Aito woke up after a few hours had passed.

He reflexively took a rapid look to evaluate the situation. Ogoro was sound asleep, probably exhausted after giving surgery to Lucius.

Sheyla stood guard at the end of the corridor, looking out for any potential threat that might disturb the challengers' rests.

Although they did not seem to have recovered entirely, Elizabeth and Lucius's state appeared to have stabilized properly.

Another woman, the baldie's companion, like Sheyla, was watching the other end of the corridor while Sam was resting.

The baldie looked like shit. He had a dark eye as if someone had stunned him to shut him up. Understandable.

"Hey, boss. Good to see you made it here alive," George said, standing guard next to him.

"You guys were a pain in the ass to find in this labyrinth. Took me five fucking days," Aito replied with a smirk, getting to his feet. "But seeing as you're alive and kicking, it was worth it."

Taking a closer look at his comrade, he realized the water mage might have gotten stronger. He could feel it somehow.

"I've reached gained a new skill thanks to the 6th floor achievement, and reached the utmost limit of level 2. Gotta need a little help from the gods to proceed forward," George explained when saw Aito sending him quizzical gazes. "We aren't all capable of going past the challenger level on our own like you, boss." 

"You're already doing fine as it is, George," Aito tapped him on the shoulder. "I'd like to know more about what happened to you all but, we have to move soon."

"Hum, agreed. But where to? We've yet to find a way out. On top of that, we're hungry and battered. Elizabeth and Lucius are still unconscious. Ogoro barely saved Lucius's life. However, he didn't have enough energy to proceed with the rest of the surgery, so that bastard cannot move. Ogoro plan on providing surgery again after he wakes up. Moreover, we have two morons whose aim until recently was to take your life. So before moving, we've got a few issues to settle. That's not considering the five or four days left before the Tower closes."

"I see. We indeed need to settle a few things before departing," Aito said, heading towards the hole he had previously dug in the wall to come here.

"Where are you going, boss? If you go there alone, you'll lose yourself." George tried to stop him.

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Aito tapped his shoulder. "Just wait here. I won't be long this time."

He disappeared into the hole, only to come back a few minutes later with three bags filled to the brim with soul cores, and gave one of them to George.

Curious about the content, George took a look inside. His eyes widened at the sheer amount of soul cores.

"Can't accept this, boss. This is the fruit of your labor," the water mage pushed the bag into Aito's arm.

"No, take it. They're all level 2 cores from the 8th floor's berserkers. I've been carrying those around for you all. I used to have eleven of those, but I had to absorb eight of them along the way. Sorry," Aito said. "I wanted to save two for each of you."

"If you went to this extent just for us, then…. Wait, you said eleven?" George's notion of big numbers took a real shock.

If he saw right, there were about seven hundred soul cores in just one bag, probably more. Which would mean he had killed more than seven thousand of those monstrosities on his own? When they had been on the 7th and 8th floor, they barely took down half of that number than shared benefits between them.

It had been profitable and all of them had gotten stronger from it. However, this couldn't compare to what he was holding. Seven hundred soul cores… and all level 2 at that!

"Boss… are you even human?"

"Hum, my status window says I'm a High Human so I guess I'm still human. Why the question?"

George shook his head. Of course, Aito wasn't really human anymore.

"No, no, nothing. Now I just regret I can't use this gift," George sighed.

"It's fine. Keep it for later." Aito took out some food from one of his inventory bags. "In the meantime, eat up. I don't have much left, but this ought to be enough for all of you."

George greedily eyed the bread and dried cactus meat, drooling. At the scent of food, Ogoro's nostrils moved on their own, waking the ex-assassin from his sleep.

"Who the fuck has been hiding food all this time?" He suddenly said, jumping to his feet.

Aito threw a loaf of bread. Ogoro's arm sprung like a viper attacking its prey, catching the food mid-flight.

"Fank Fo fe food," he said, his mouth stuffed with bread.

George devoured the bread.

Even though it was a bit hard, it tasted like heaven. Aito left both men to their lunch and walked to Sheyla's location to share the food.

When he arrived, her gaze was so glued on the bread she didn't even take a single glance at him. Apparently, she was also starving.

A lot of thoughts fused past his mind as he watched her eating. He had previously taken notice of her feelings for him, but… he could not reciprocate them. Not now, when his mental wounds were barely healing.

He cherished the comrades he made in the Tower and was ready to fight for them if need be.

But at the same time, this situation made him uncomfortable since he knew he would barely be able to handle the guilt if one of them died. After all, they had followed him here. So he considered them his responsibility.

And that… could destroy him, eat him from the inside out. Aito instinctively knew this. That's why he had tried his best to get to them as fast as possible. Although that sounded a bit selfish it was the truth.

So how could he let himself love someone when he had difficulty dealing with friendship alone? He had barely come to accept again that other people could be part of his life.

If he were to love someone like he loved his family, Aito could very well plunge back into the abyss he had come from if he failed to protect such a person again. In such a dangerous world, something like that was bound to happen. 

After all, he was even more powerless than when he had been on Earth—at least he considered himself that way.

Dealing with his failure to protect someone he cared about was already difficult, but the failure to protect someone he deeply loved again?

The consequences would be disastrous.

Even though he had previously sworn to face his failures... that particular failure was the only one he could not face.

Maybe later, after finding salvation, he would allow himself to love again. So now…, now was not the time.

'I have to tell her,' he thought, ready to interrupt her meal. But when he was about to talk, Sheyla glared at him with those blue eyes filled with tenderness.

"Is something wrong?"

Aito cursed internally when a sense of guilt ravaged his mind, preventing his mouth from forming the words he had wanted to say.

"Nothing, I… just thought you looked tired. How about you go rest? I'll take this guard shift."

Sheyla scanned his eyes as if she was looking for a lie.

Under pressure, Aito added, "I also brought back a few level 2 soul cores for you. It ought to help you reach the limit of the challenger realm."

She sent him a quizzical gaze, then looked towards George, zooming in on the bags near him. "How many are there inside one bag?"

"Around seven hundred, I think."

"That's not funny," she said with an unamused look. Her expression changed when she saw his face, "You're serious, aren't you?"

"Of course I am. Hey, have I ever given you a reason to doubt me before? Did I ever do something so dishonorable I'm deserving of doubt?"

Her gaze turned dark. "On the 2nd and 3rd floor you stared at my butt whenever I was changing. On the 4th floor, you told me goblin shit would mask my scent from them and covered me from top to bottom in it. On the 5th floor, while I was taking a shower, you were taking a peek. On the 6th floor, you stunned me with a punch in the gut. Need me to name more reasons?"

"I… uhm," he didn't know what to reply. The goblin shit part was true but for his defense, she had washed herself soon after. Him spying on her while she was taking a shower only happened once since after that she had taken the necessary precautions. The punch in the gut… also true. Staring at her butt… even now, it was still true.

A victorious smile appeared on Sheyla's face.

"Sorry for everything," Aito said apologetically.

"I'm just messing with you," Sheyla giggled, her eyes gleaming with amusement. "Although I'd appreciate it if you could stop staring at me like I was an object of high value. That's a bit annoying. I don't resent you for that, though. However, I do resent you for that punch. Well, assuming the seven hundred soul cores are true, then it ought to suffice for an apology."

"I can't promise anything about the staring… too tempting," Aito replied. "But I can promise the soul cores are real."

"We'll see if that's the case soon enough."

Sheyla turned around and headed for the others with graceful strides. At some point, she said, "Stop staring!"

'She's got eyes on her back?' Aito wondered and looked away.

At that moment, Valinar's notification window suddenly popped up in front of him.

[You can't even tell a woman to her face she has no chance with you because of your mental issues. *Sigh* I am terribly disappointed in you.]

Aito sighed. That goddess was sticking her nose in something other than her own business.

'It's not that simple. Fearmongers, humans, goblins, or others I can kill. Telling someone I can't be with her because I'm messed up in the head... that feels like a hundred times worse than any fight I've been in.'

[Of course, it is. That's why it requires bravery. *Sigh* You are still lacking.]

*****

Lore: 

"Most of the time, we tend to identify bravery as the act of facing overwhelming odds with little to no weapons of our own, while, in fact, it is much more than that. Bravery can be found in the little things as well as the big things! For instance, telling someone the truth." 

Extract from, "Yggdrasil Chronicles, The Woodcutter of Iris," by Roan the Merchant.