Darian slowly left Snowy on the other side of the bed and immediately laid himself down. 'Damn… everything hurts so badly…' thought Darian as he slowly removed his shirt. With the light still turned on, he noticed the multiple scars all over his chest.
"He definitely didn't go easy on me, eh?" whispered Darian as he slowly touched one of the scars before feeling the pain and removing his finger immediately.
'I didn't think I would see an artificial light like this again…' thought Darian as he started to turn it off and on like a child. 'I guess they must have been created by that Zrelekai, that guy definitely is smart…' thought Darian as he slowly returned to his bed and sat down on it.
"He must have created some solar panels, and with them, he gives electricity to all the city… he can't create electricity with his power too, right?" Darian immediately shook his head as he eliminated this possibility. 'It isn't something that you can create just by studying it.' With that, Darian laid down on the bed and grabbed the diary in the backpack next to the bed.
'I've finally met the latest Black Defender, I can finally write about him,' thought Darian as he started to search for his pen inside the backpack. "Oh, here," he said. The moment he took it, he started to go through the diary, and on the first page, he noticed something that shouldn't be there.
'Zrelekai has been here!!! :DD HEHEHEHEH' noticed Darian on the first page, right under his drawing of Snowy. "That damn fucker…" murmured Darian angrily, as he wanted to eliminate Zrelekai's signature, but it wasn't possible, as it would ruin the entire page.
'I'll just leave it here… it doesn't create any problem… right?' thought Darian while flipping through the pages. He arrived at the page in which he wrote about the nine Black Defenders and started to write about Ashikunz, and he added something new to what he had already written.
'Ashikunz: this is the last Black Defender we had yet to find and… I'm not sure if I'm happy to have met him. He's definitely the most dangerous creature we have ever found. From what the others told me, it doesn't matter how many people you might throw at him, he will always come out alive, as he was able to kill more than half of the rebels here in Ardoris. I call him the strongest as he was able to walk in the desert without any problem, not even Kyujin was able to survive in the desert as she needed Archilochus rain, and it felt like he could move without any problem. He has got this huge armor that covers his whole body, and from what the others told me, he always walks with a huge black spear. It's rare to see him walking in the city; they said that he's always somewhere else, and Tyel might know where it is. I'm really curious and both scared as he feels really strong…' With that, Darian finished writing about Ashikunz, but the more he wrote, the more he felt guilty as he remembered the day he spoke with Zrelekai while looking at the prisoners.
'I'm not studying him or anything, I'm just writing about him. There isn't supposed to be anything wrong with that,' thought he as he went to the page in which he wrote about humans to add Zrelekai.
'Zrelekai: he's probably the worst kind of person someone can ever find. He just wants to be right every time, and it's impossible to discuss anything with him. He's a scientist, in my time we would have defined him as a mad scientist because he's really crazy. He does any kind of experiment on creatures without any problem; he doesn't care about what happens to the creature as long as he comes to the conclusion of the experiment, he's happy. His power lets him create any object as long as he understands how it works. It feels like he has already created a lot of things, and most of the things in this city are because of his work.' Darian realized that he didn't know much about Zrelekai and most of the things were said by the others today.
'He has lived for over three hundred years, which is something impossible for a human. In fact, he can't be defined as one of them anymore. His body is half-Krukin and half-human. Unlike Sappho, who hadn't completed her transformation, it feels like he has turned into a total Krukin, and because of this, his soul is more resistant. I wonder for how many hours he can keep up creating objects without getting tired…' The moment Darian finished writing about Zrelekai, he closed the diary and left it inside the backpack with the pen.
'I could have written about Corvinus and the Seamstress too…' thought Darian. As he lay on the bed looking at the ceiling, he immediately shook his head.
'I don't know much of anything about them… and I should not take this so lightly. I first need to understand them more and then I can write about them. Writing about them without even actually understanding something about them isn't right…' And with this thought in mind, Darian slowly turned around and started to sleep.
The following day, Darian suddenly felt someone licking his face. He slowly opened his eyes and noticed Snowy on top of him, trying to wake him up. "Oh, you're awake, my friend," said Darian as he picked up the fox in his hands and looked at him, smiling warmly.
"Let's go, you can meet the others too now," said Darian with Snowy on his shoulder. The moment he opened the door, Lily did the same, and they encountered each other in the hallway. "Oh, you're awake, Snowy!" said Lily happily as she started to pet him.
The moment the group entered the main room, they noticed Syrmax already awake with some fruit on the table. "Oh, you're awake, guys!" said Syrmax after greeting Darian and Lily. The both of them took a seat next to him.
"Morning, Syrmax," said Lily as she grabbed a fruit and started to eat it slowly. Snowy jumped on the table and Syrmax looked at him curiously. "That creature sure is interesting," said Syrmax while adjusting his monocle and looking over Snowy.
Darian grabbed a fruit and gave a small part of it to Snowy. Suddenly, another door opened and Liro came out. "Oh, morning, guys," said he as he slowly reached the others.
The group all greeted him, and Liro looked at Snowy happily before petting him; then he sat down and started to eat too.
"Someone like Orechin sleeps a lot, we have to wait a long time for him to wake up, I guess…" said Syrmax. Lily, next to him, nodded her head. "It's like Vane; he sleeps a lot too," she said while biting the fruit in her hands.
"And so? Do you spend your days waiting for him to wake up, Syrmax? It feels like without us here, it would be boring for you…" asked Darian, wanting to start a conversation to not remain in this awkward silence.
"It isn't boring. I must say that after the deaths of almost all of our companions, the base has turned significantly quieter, but it isn't something that I refuse… you see, in my private life, I'm someone who enjoys writing all kinds of stories and so—" Syrmax could not even finish speaking before Darian immediately shouted.
"Woah, do you write? That is really great! What kind of stories do you write?" asked Darian. Syrmax, caught by surprise, coughed and took some papers from the drawer next to him. "Mostly fantasy stories," said Syrmax. Lily tried to see what Syrmax had written, but he immediately removed the papers and put them back in the drawer.
"I don't want anyone to read what I'm writing…" he said awkwardly while looking down.
"But why did you decide to join the rebels then? Couldn't you just enjoy your time as a writer in your home without risking anything?" asked Liro, confused.
"I could have… but the moment one of my books was about to be published… they told me that it wasn't alright for the Empire, and they were about to catch me and put me into jail…" said Syrmax as he slowly turned quiet.
'They even censor that kind of stuff?' thought Darian angrily as he looked over at Syrmax.
"And that was when one of the old rebels saved me. I was running in the street, scared because of the guards. On that day there were too many clouds, so it was impossible for me to use my power, when suddenly this person arrived and saved me… I will never be able to forget his kindness," said Syrmax as he slowly raised both his voice and his head.
"And you said he was one of the old rebels? One of those who died against Ashikunz?" asked Liro, worried by the answer, as he already knew what it would be.
"Sadly, yes. In fact, before Catripple escaped and Tyel joined our group, we were extremely big. We felt more like a group…" whispered Syrmax as he started to remember all the people in the old rebels.
"Catripple told us that there were eleven, were they all Alterids?" asked Darian curiously. Syrmax shook his head.
"As you already know, there was Eilwarin, who could use wind magic, and there was Awidi too, who could use fire magic. And the rest of us were all Alterids." Hearing these words, all the people's eyes started to sparkle as they wondered what kind of powers these people had.
"And… do you remember their powers?" asked Liro, as he wanted to know more about these people. Syrmax nodded his head while adjusting his monocle.
"You already know mine, Orechin's, and Catripple's powers. The one who saved me while I was escaping from the guards was called Isorin, and with his power, he could create these weird black clouds that had multiple spikes on them. He could make them turn invisible and create surprise attacks… you see, this is how he saved me."
"He could make invisible attacks too? But then how was Ashikunz able to dodge them?" asked Lily, both confused and curious. "He couldn't see them, right?" asked Darian, worried. But Syrmax shook his head.
"He couldn't see them. In fact, as long as Isorin didn't have any spikes, the clouds could become invisible, but he simply reacted too fast for us, extremely fast. Isorin's spikes couldn't pierce him fast enough before he had already cut them down," said Syrmax. Suddenly, two doors slammed in the hallway; both Vane and Orechin had woken up at the same moment.
"Hey, I heard you were calling Isorin's name, what happened?" asked Orechin as he slowly sat down in his usual place.
"I'm hungry… what can I eat?" said Vane while he was still half asleep. The moment he sat down, Liro gave him one of the fruits on the table and sighed. 'At least in the prison I ate something different rather than just fruit…' thought Vane, as he had started to miss the food he could have in the prison.
"We were talking about the old rebels, and I was about to tell them about that day…" whispered Syrmax. Orechin grabbed one of the fruits and took a big bite that made Vane surprised too.
"I'll explain it, don't worry, Syrmax," said Orechin. Syrmax slowly nodded while adjusting his monocle. "We were the strongest generation of rebels since the creation of this stupid Empire… no one could stop us; we were simply too strong for them… or at least that's what we believed." With that, Orechin's tone suddenly turned serious, and he started to explain to them about the day in which almost all the rebels died because of Ashikunz.