Chapter 152 – The end of grinding is here (Thursday 7/7)

“Master, it is time.” Aclysia gently nudged him awake.

John looked at the clock. He had spent the last few hours sleeping, right up until he could not feasibly sleep any longer. Fifteen minutes to midnight, until Magoi would close the barrier, and until they reached the day that all of them the past ‘month’ had been working towards.

He left the house in a strangely calm mood. ‘Within 12 hours, I’ll be dead or have Jane back or…’ He found it difficult to contemplate the manifold options in-between. He walked forwards, finding the loot basin, the table and even Magoi’s house to have disappeared. The moment everyone from his group had stepped out, John’s house disappeared too.

He stood at the heart of a seven person party. There was himself, the Gamer equipped with some serious power in the form of the World Ender items (sadly, he had not acquired other stuff that could be of use).

To his right stood Aclysia, thanks to Artificial Spirit reaching level 10 again just today she had gotten Adaptive Bladery back. However, she was only equipped with Ashkandi still. That weapon would suffice.

To his left was Mono, the newest member of the group was clutching a spear which they had gotten from the floor 10 boss of the Angel I.D.

Her first Skill Tree choice had of course been the question for specialization. He had gone with Support, then it had asked him what kind of support: Healer, Buffer or Blocker. Between the last two he had been thinking for a bit but finally he went with Buffer. This had presented him then with the choice of Mana Battery and after reading through it, he had no choice but to take it.

If there was one thing Mono had a lot of, it was mana, plus she could share it with anyone else in the group, including his elementals. That alone made her presence a substantial upgrade.

Undine stood behind him, her lower body mostly a singular mass, the outline of her hips and thighs alluringly hinted at.

Sylph flew around the group and chatted with everyone, although nobody answered she was happy just having her mouth run about.

Salamander sighed, sitting on his shoulder, “When this is over, I am taking a vacation,” she mumbled, “gonna visit that endless landscape of sexual fantasies in your head and just laugh at them.”

Lastly, Gnome was standing next to Mono, like John had hoped (or partly created Mono for) the two of them got along well, which was hard to realize for a normal onlooker. They just quietly existed next to each other. That seemed enough for comfort though.

The only thing still around was the chair a certain Fateweaver sat on and read his newspaper. Magoi checked the watch on his wrist and yawned, “Four days, almost over. Gotta say there are better ways to spend my time, but a hell of a lot worse too.”

“Thanks for everything, Magus.” John’s earnest tone made the tired man look up.

“Don’t thank me for what was a simple business transaction,” the Fateweaver said. His tone betrayed a certain amusement. “In a few minutes we will go our separate ways. I will collapse the barrier and then create a new one, taking my exit in secrecy.” A pause, the rustling of the newspaper, as it was folded shut. “I hope it isn’t a goodbye forever, John Newman. I may not agree with your friends but you seem to be morally upright, a rare trade amongst the powerful freelancers in the Abyss.”

 “I hope to see you again one day too. Maybe that day you won’t have a problem standing in public with me,” he joked.

Magoi chuckled, “Perhaps. You should know though that even if you survive tomorrow, there are hard times ahead. Easier in some ways. Europe is old and settled. It’s less dangerous in a lot of ways – and more dangerous in others.”

“There always seems to be more trouble on the horizon,” John’s sigh belied his smile. The nervousness about his future lay under a blanket of controlled tranquillity. Patience for the state of the world as it was, passion for what he had to do, readiness to take whatever was thrown at him, and control over his state of mind. The four lessons of the elementals were as powerful as any of the Skills he had gotten out of all of this. “As long as Jane is safe, that is okay.”

“Ahh, young love, such a powerful thing,” Magoi hummed and checked his watch again. “This is about it,” he said, “any last words? Were you happy with the service? Would you like to leave a customer review?” The last question was added in jest.

“I was, and if I don’t make it, please tell Regan Hollmey that I am sorry, Magus,” John answered.

“That seems like favouritism, but I think I can make this one exception,” Magus put the folded newspaper under one arm and extended his hand. John didn’t hesitate, the two shared a short but friendly handshake. The world around them started to crack open. “And if you make it,” the Fateweaver said, “feel free to call me Magoi next time we meet.”

With that, he was gone. The whole plain was gone. John and his group stood in the entrance area of his home, in front of the door which he had stared at before being pulled into the Grand Magus’ Grand Barrier of Grandness just four days ago. Four days that had been 28 days for him.

He heard a soft rain from the outside, the phone in his pocket vibrated as it finally picked up a signal again. He looked at it, found a load of messages from Regan and a single one from Herman – three days old. He read it, his eyebrows shot up, the elementals became incorporeal, and John opened the front door.

There sat the brown-haired guy and stared up at him. “There you are, John,” he said in a weak voice. John looked at the message again.

Herman: Am outside, please, let me make this right.

“Finally,” Herman said, although his eyes widened slightly at the view of the Gamer’s new aura.

John helped the Apothecary up and inside. “You don’t owe me anything, Herman,” he assured him and guided him to the kitchen. The guy had been sitting outside since writing that message it seemed. “Aclysia, would you make some tea?” John asked and she obeyed, Mono in tow to prepare something to eat as well.

Once he was properly seated Herman sighed in relief, “Thank you,” he said to Aclysia when getting his cup of tea, warming his rain drenched hands, “I was halfway prepared that you would never forgive me. I kept searching and waiting, hoping you’d come back…”

“I spent the last four days inside an Illusion Barrier,” John explained why he hadn’t answered sooner and then laid down everything that had happened.

“That explains why you are this much stronger,” Herman said at the end. John threw a quick Observe at him, nothing had changed.

‘I expected the relationship to drop at the very least’ he thought and moved on to why he was of that mindset. “Are you not mad at me for getting all of your friends killed?” John asked.

Herman shook his head, “You are still thinking like somebody out of the Abyss, John. The moment they agreed to help me with this they knew they could die. I am sad, but the possibility was always there.” a heavy sigh. “We bit off way more than we could chew, you and I… but I am not willing to let their sacrifice be in vain. We were both shaken up last time but I need you tell me exactly what happened in the bunker, maybe we can still do something, for my friends’ and for your girlfriend’s sake.”

‘Right, he has no idea,’ John realized, “Jane is not dead,” he started another explanation, “and about Thana, she wants to fight me today.”

Herman regarded John with wide eyes, the light of hope returning to them. Then, he was distracted by a sandwich that was placed in front of him. He thanked Mono, his eyes lingering on her for a short, confused moment. Then, he laughed, as if looking at some kind of absurdity. “Sorry… just… did not expect you to have a second maid around.”

“I’m not a maid,” Mono was swift to deny and checked back in with Aclysia.

Herman scratched the back of his head, looked back to John, and bit into his sandwich as he waited for the explanation to continue.

“Thana uses her as a hostage to ensure I come to her. In her words, she is dying and wants to go out with a bang or something,” John relayed what he knew.

“…In other words, we can save both of them.” The hope in Herman’s eyes shone even brighter.

“Save Thana?” John asked, “she killed seven of your friends.”

“What’s done is done. Again, I will not let their deaths be in vain,” Herman insisted. “She was maddened when she got out of the prison, wasn’t she?”

“Terrifyingly so,” John said, remembering the laughter and violence, “let’s say I go along with your idea, what is the plan?”

“The barrier I put up to heal her on site is still in place,” Herman told him. “if she is dying that means she will get weaker until eventually you can capture her… right?”

John wasn’t convinced that was the case, but Herman’s eyes had a deep certainty to them. “Let us assume that.” Best to trust the opinion of an Apothecary on such things.

“So, all we have to do is wait until she is that weak.”

“I cannot wait, if I don’t get there soon she will kill Jane,” John reminded Herman.

“Then go fight her for a bit. While Thana is occupied, I will get Rave out,” the Apothecary said. “Then you retreat and we wait until she should be weak enough to capture outside.”

“Wouldn’t she just follow us?” John asked, there was little reason for her not to.

Herman hesitated for a moment, thinking about that. “Doesn’t she look inhuman?” he finally asked.

“Not really, but I guess her eyes are not exactly normal,” John answered.

“Then she won’t follow us, if a single normal person outside would see her she would get taken care of by Gaia and if she wants to go out with a bang that’s not what she will do,” Herman said with certainty.

“Why? If I was in her shoes and my options were wasting away or dying immediately, I would go for the latter,” John pushed back. “She’s probably only staying because she has another option.”

Herman’s fingers drummed on the table, while he swallowed the rest of the sandwich. “…No, she will probably try to cling onto what emotions she can feel and when she can’t feel any longer… she’ll go back to being inert, right?”

“…You sound really certain about all of this,” John mumbled.

Herman awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, “I am not certain at all, I just hope for the best,” he admitted.

John massaged the bridge of his nose and thought about it. If Herman was right and succeeded Jane would be secure much earlier. If he wasn’t, John lost nothing. If it turned out that it was possible to save Thana and she actually was more than a psychotic murderess, they even got done what they had set out to do in the first place. If she turned out to be completely insane and psychotic, then they could still get rid of her later.

Pragmatically speaking, there was no reason for him to decline. “Okay, let’s try to do it your way.”