"Alright I'll get some rest. Whatever tomorrow's got for us is not pleasant"
there was nothing chase could do about it anyway. Only thing left was to sleep and find out what his final mission was tomorrow.' it just means I get to escape sooner'
Noah nodded in agreement.
"Stay safe, I'll get this idiot to his bed."
this was one of the first times chase actually had meaningful friendly banter with a stranger in this world. He was going to get back to him and have a genuine conversation that wasn't on a battlefield.
"I'll see you tomorrow. we'll make it out in one peace I'm sure of it"
looking at the determined look on his face, Noah was pleasantly surprised. At least one of them was optimistic. maybe this rookie would survive after all. He'd surprised him for the moment they met and with luck that wouldn't change now.
"if all goes at planned we can meet up later."
Chase nodded, smirking a little.
Finally, Noah turned around, his friend in tow and began walking elsewhere.
with that chase was off to his encampment,
In good health and good spirits. since he was about to presumably get into multiple life threatening altercations, he had to appreciate the small things. as he walked, he closed his eyes. Listening to birds chirping, taking in the scent of fresh air and the feel of his feet on the ground.
Things like this ground him to reality. in his old life even when he was as old as 14 he acted as if his entire life had passed him by.
he liked to get all preachy even though half the time he didn't practice what he preached. Adding onto that was trying to be a wise guy didn't mean shit to people who were living in the moment, so most people just took him for a prick who played purity police. Chase got more lost in thought.
he began thinking of all the times he said he was going to do something but never did, some of his biggest regrets started piling up.
He didn't go to prom because he was insecure about his looks, didn't get into sports so a lot of times he felt left out in conversations with athletes.he was extremely to himself, so while he had a loving family, he felt as though sometimes the vibe was off a family meetings when everyone showed up with thoughtful gifts and he was still showing up with gift cards with small bits of money inside.
on his way to the grocery store he was hit by a drunk driver and was pronounced dead at the hospital. Even his death was mediocre.
In this life, Chase was going to live. He was going to let the days pass him, to say high first, to take the initiative. Even if it meant stepping out of his comfort zone.
as Chase began to focus, he saw that he was already right in front of his shared residence.
he flipped the curtains and walked in.
once inside of his tent he saw 4 mattresses with different men on them. one had extremely long hair a thin frame looking almost girly. he slept peacefully not knowing of chases presence. Beside him rested a staff, it was a short one that was handed to him by the church, likely due to his mana capacity.
The next one was a male who looked bigger, but not as big as Noah, just a muscular dude.
beside him rested two twin axes, one could guess what they were used for.
Turning to the right, chase saw another man's bed. he didn't know much about him. But he knew he wasn't here a lot. he was usually just not there, or stopping by to get food.
Moving past them he laid on his bed, eager to end the day. He needed as much sleep as possible.just then a stunning realization cam up.
"Damn, I never got that first guys name did i?"
-3 HOURS LATER
Chase was in deep slumber, in his vision he was in a forest, with battles raging all around him. in front of him was a pulsating red thing that looked like a heart. It was almost entirely covered in bark. The parts of it that were not, glowed so brightly that the entire area was covered in a blood red glow.
Chase had no clue what was going on.
suddenly the men he went on the mission with began getting overwhelmed as more of the demon kings forces had come here, seemingly out of nowhere.
Chase was about to run to save them but his leg felt rooted in place, almost swallowed.
looking down made his heart drop to his ankles.
turning around he saw what he thought was his leg, completely enveloped in a dark mass of tendrils with multiple eyes occasionally poking out, all looking at him.
it slithered up, intending to keep consuming, when suddenly, Chase was pushed so hard he rolled over his mattress.
After collapsing to the floor Chase began panting heavily, still in disbelief of what he just saw.
'WHAT THE HELL!?'
the state of his body was odd. He was very sweaty and- was his leg okay? after quickly looking at it and making sure he didn't need an amputation, he made a sigh of relief.
"what's up with your body that you can't be woken up with a simple few taps?" came a stern voice.
as Chase got up, he saw everyone, even the mysterious man all in their armor, weapons at the ready.
"My apologies, I've been a disaster lately"
The well built man was not at all pleased with this answer. "If you cannot even be asked to get out of bed, what good are you when the actual battle starts?"
seeing the clear displeasure on his face, the feminine looking man quickly tried ending an argument before it started.
"we have been given a mission by one of the professors. Assemble your things, we are going to win before the battle even starts."