When people from the camp approached, Asan could see a huge number of injuries on the bodies of the people. Some were missing parts of their bodies and were leaning on those who were in better condition; some were crying silently, while others were thanking all the gods for surviving. As soon as the Geographer and Nelson noticed two people looking at them, they exchanged glances and headed towards Asan and Bridgite.
"Good to see that you're alive, Asan, Bridgite" said Geographer in a cold tone, mostly looking at Bridgite. For some reason, Asan seemed to avoid his gaze.
Bridgite nodded silently and tried to get up, but due to magical exhaustion, she nearly fell. Fortunately, Geographer managed to catch her. Unlike the Geographer, Nelson stood nearby and stared intently at Asan, or rather at his wounds.
From his dazed eyes, it was clear that he was clearly surprised by the resilience of the last one. Asan was surprised that Nelson and Geographer were at most buried in the dust from the ruins rather than having any wounds. Soon, the rest of the strike team approached the two people from behind, all of them, except surprisingly Paul, were injured.
Alice slowly approached Asan and sat in front of him, placing her hand on his shoulder. She rarely showed concern or even worry for anyone, but the guy could see relief in her eyes when she saw him. Of course, it was nice to realize that he meant something to her. Glancing at the girl, he noticed that she had been hastily bandaged with various pieces of clothing or any other rags that happened to be at hand. She had fought too, and it was clearly tough for her.
Alice was followed by the other three people, and as Asan noticed Laszlo, something in his heart jolted.
One of Laszlo's eyes was bandaged, and his left arm… was missing.
"L-Laz…" Asan began speaking with pain in his voice, feeling growing unease in his chest.
Laszlo looked at Asan with his one eye and smiled bitterly. It was clear that it hurt him to show any emotion, but Asan was more surprised by another fact.
Am I worried about him?
This question stuck in his throat, blocking his breath and intensifying the growing pain in his chest. For some reason, he felt very sorry for his friend, and he didn't want to see him injured so badly. Even in his mind, this couldn't make sense. What had he encountered to receive such injuries?
"Everything's fine, Asan, as you can see I still have one eye and one hand, and two legs, so I'm completely fine!" Laszlo tried to hide the pain, pretending to be more than he was.
This made one feel nauseous, but this fact had to be accepted. From a more logical and less emotional perspective, Laszlo, like everyone else, was very lucky to survive such hellish circumstances. The creatures they encountered were clearly beyond their abilities or capabilities. If Asan hadn't poured all his characteristics into strength and caught the unsuspecting monster off guard at that moment, he probably wouldn't be talking to any of his companions now.
Glancing over at Crane, Asan saw that he looked quite lively.
His outer clothing was torn and hung in strips from his body, battered by cuts and deep wounds, but one could tell from his eyes that the boy was still very much capable of doing something now. He exuded an aura of energy and optimism, such was Crane.
But when Asan noticed Paul, he couldn't help but frown. His clothes, hands, legs, everything was in order, aside from the dirt and layer of dust covering him. The boy seemed to have not fought at all, but rather stayed somewhere safe. Paul inexplicably shivered on the spot, as if uncomfortable under Asan's intense gaze, but Asan wasn't about to focus on him either, for Nelson's piercing look had already grown tiresome to him.
Turning to face him, Asan glared fiercely and hissed,
"What are you staring at, piece of shit?"
Everyone immediately paid attention to the two of them.
Usually cold and calm face of the Geographer trembled, Alice for some reason squeezed Asan's shoulder harder, and Bridgite tensed. Only Nelson continued to look at the boy calmly, not taking his eyes off him.
"Nothing, I'm just looking at you and marveling. You managed to survive literally on the brink of life and death. That's what makes my gaze fixed on you, kid" said Nelson calmly. There was not a trace of trembling in his voice, and the wind seemed to resonate with his words. Under the bloody rays of the sky, his figure appeared quite ominous and clearly larger than he seemed. Even his shadow, falling behind him, looked incredibly large compared to the others.
Dangerous. Asan felt that he was indeed dangerous.
Of course, he had felt such a sensation even the first time they met, but this time he couldn't shake off his anxiety and some strange itch at the back of his neck when looking at him.
"Enough. I think everyone is tired and needs to rest before we leave here. Bridgite, can you take care of the wounded?" Geographer said with a slight sigh, turning his gaze to the exhausted girl.
"I need to rest for a few hours for Mana to recover, but I think I can provide first aid to those who need it" the girl said, freeing herself from the Geographer's hand that had been supporting her all along.
Asan could only watch her retreating back as she headed towards a large group of people standing behind the front line. Soon everyone dispersed to create something like a base camp, leaving Asan and Laszlo alone.
Since both boys looked severely injured, they were not forced to work or help with setting up the temporary camp. Laszlo, groaning in pain, managed to sit down next to Asan.
Both boys looked at the destroyed fort, from the top of which smoke rose from small fires that had appeared during the battle. They were silent, as it was hard for each of them to say a word. Not much time had passed since they left their native anthill, and now they survived each day trying to protect other people. This feeling of concern for other people slightly upset Asan's insides, causing him to feel a mild nausea.
"Once again we managed to survive… Isn't this a miracle, Asan? " Laszlo asked him quietly without taking his eyes off the destroyed fort.
Asan sighed heavily and looked at Laszlo's face.
His face showed almost no emotions, so Asan found it hard to understand what he was thinking.
"Right... You're right, but looking at you, it's hard to tell if this is good..." Asan replied quietly, shifting his gaze to his injured hands that were trembling slightly.
They were both not even twenty years old, yet they had been through so much. If Asan had been told in the past that he would kill a monster on his birthday, he never would have believed it. In fact, he had never imagined that something like this could happen to their world. Whenever he watched movies about apocalypses or read novellas, he never took them seriously enough to think they could actually occur, just like most other people.
A zombie apocalypse? Ha! With modern weaponry, humanity could handle those creatures in an instant, losing very few lives.
Great flood or other natural catastrophes? Well, that would indeed be something threatening, but usually movies exaggerate everything since people only started producing robots and spaceships last year, what can they not prevent against nature that they have already conquered?
Perhaps aliens could have been a threat to humanity, but it was unknown exactly what kind of aliens these might have been. Unfortunately for Asan, what actually turned out to be the most devastating for humanity was System. It was like a virus that infected most people, turning them into monsters, and the rest into comic book superheroes. This really sounded like the title of some movie or even TV series.
But unfortunately, this was the reality in which two friends found themselves.
And at the same time, even more people became something more than just passersby for Asan.
"Rat, have you thought about leaving?" Asan said extremely quietly, but Laszlo apparently didn't hear him.
"What?" The guy tore his gaze away from the fort and shifted his attention to Asan.
"Oh, nothing..." Asan replied to him and lay down on the cool ground, staring up at the sky.
All these experiences, being among crowds of people, protecting them. These feelings that bring no joy or pleasure to Asan. For some reason, the idea of leaving this all behind, getting rid of this problem, arose in his mind. Isn't that what everyone does? If something bothers you, you need to solve it.
So, should he stay in the camp if it causes him so much pain? Could it be easier for Asan alone or with just a few people?
Soon Laszlo left Asan alone, giving him time to think, to think about many things.
The camp was slowly getting up with the help of Bridgite. The girl worked tirelessly on the condition of each person so that they could survive. But, despite all her efforts, there were casualties. Out of the 30 people who had escaped from the fort, only 20 remained alive. From the Geographer's camp, Cole and his wife, the old man responsible for provisions, and a couple of men with women had perished. In fact, the Geographer's camp now consisted solely of the strike team. To Asan's surprise, Nelson decided to join under the Geographer's command, since he had nowhere else to go.
Thus, the Geographer once again had 20 people under his command, almost as at the very beginning. Although many who had followed him before had died, those remaining had pledged to carry their hopes and pain with them.
When Asan felt slightly better, the strike team took supplies from the basement in the half-destroyed city and returned to the temporary camp. It was also decided to re-examine the fort in search of equipment belonging to fallen soldiers. In the end, Asan got a spear and a sword, which he immediately placed in his spatial pocket, filling it to the maximum.
Finally, after a couple of days, the group set off towards the Alps again. According to the Geographer's forecast, further lay a long forest that they had to pass through.
Who knows, maybe it will be safer in the forest?