For the next several hours, Arthur only did one thing. He ran and ran without stopping. Using every single point of agility and every single point of stamina he had, he was hell-bent on crossing as much distance as possible before the end of the day.
Stopping every now and then, he took a break to replenish his depleted stamina bar before resuming his trip. In a matter of half a day, Arthur noticed that he got close to the Memory gate again.
His speed and continuous and relentless movement made it possible for him to cross a good distance in such a short period of time. Something that would have been impossible if he had done it before killing Lykean.
“Wow… 41 agility is no joke. I’m now so fast it’s actually insane.” Sitting near a tree branch drinking a potion, Arthur looked at the map with a satisfied expression. His current position was still considerably far away from the place where he died, but he was now way closer than before.
“I will have to slow down my progress soon. I won’t be able to keep running at full speed for several days. I only have so many potions.”
Looking at his inventory, Arthur knew that if he kept using these potions recklessly, he would end up completely exhausted before reaching his destination. That naturally would make traveling even more horrendous and slow.
“For now, I just want to reach the memory gate as soon as possible. I don’t know if I can pick up my items again or not after dying.” He muttered.
So far, Arthur’s knowledge about dying in Divinity Online was very minimal, mainly because he didn’t research it properly. But, it was clear to him that dying in the game had a punishment and it was considerably hard.
‘Losing experience points and items isn’t easy, especially on weaker players.’ He thought to himself. ‘I cannot afford to keep dying more and more.’
As he was traveling, Arthur checked the leaderboard and as he expected, he made another leap of points, reaching well into the 11k points. Isla was behind him with 7000 points. Both of them had benefitted a lot from killing Lykean as the boss was very strong.
‘I’m pretty sure the internet is in an uproar now. We both gained more than 3000 points each. This is ridiculous.’ He smiled to himself. ‘Now that I think about it… I’m glad Isla didn’t die like I did. It would’ve really put her in a seriously bad situation.’
Weirdly enough, Arthur was a little delighted that Isla remained alive. He knew that without her, the group would’ve been in a very tough position. Her importance in keeping them together was irreplaceable.
“They can definitely continue forward without my help now. They’re all far stronger than before, I assume. They can definitely pull it off.”
Tapping on the ground next to him lightly, Arthur lost his trail of thoughts for a while. The sun had already set and the sky was dark so it was very quiet and serene around him. He was sitting near the road, keeping an eye on his surroundings as he rested.
“I wonder if I will meet them again in the capital. I mean, they’re already on the Middle Island with me so I can just ask Isla.” He muttered. Still, the bitter feeling he tried to ignore was still there, even stronger than before.
‘Dammit, why am I feeling bitter? They’re just a bunch of players I collaborated with for a goal and then we’re going our separate ways. What the hell am I even expecting?’
Clenching his fists, Arthur plucked some grass and threw it away. “I’m such an idiot sometimes. Just focus on your own business and leave these thoughts to the side, you bastard.”
After that, he pulled out some stuff to eat to spend the rest of his break in peace. But, at that moment, he suddenly heard a distant noise. Almost instantly, he grabbed his sword that was lying on the tree next to him and stood up, looking directly at the source of the noise.
‘Is it a monster?’
Listening quietly to the noise, it continued growing closer and closer. He couldn’t figure out what it was at first, but as it became clearer, he started to have suspicions.
‘Isn’t this the sound of…?’ As if he had an epiphany, he slowly walked out of his hiding spot into the road.
He stood in the middle staring coldly at the empty path ahead. Soon enough, some silhouettes started appearing.
‘I didn’t expect to meet some players on this road of all places. Why the hell are they traveling during the night? Do they wish for a quick death?’ Gripping his sword tightly, Arthur waited for them to get closer, expecting to see some strangers.
However, upon having a look at their faces, he was completely stunned.
The players stopped their horses a little far away as they noticed his presence. They were clearly wary of whoever he was.
“Show yourself! Who are you?” A growly voice spoke to him in a not-so-friendly tone.
That snapped Arthur out of his daze as he slowly stepped forward. His lips were pursed, quivering ever so slightly. “It’s me.” He said.
“Wait, Arthur?!” Emmy quickly lit up a fire on her staff as she made it float ahead of them, revealing Arthur’s face. “How are you here?”
“… That’s my question.” He replied. “Why are you guys here? Why didn’t you continue ahead?”
Arthur wasn’t just shocked, he was completely taken aback. The last people he expected to see now were Isla and the others. He had already predicted that they would continue the trip on their own. Yet for some reason, they headed back on their path.
“How can we move on without you?” Isla asked as she jumped back from her horse. “We decided to come back to get you.” She said.
“…” Arthur was again completely speechless. “T-That makes no sense. Why waste all this time to come back? You could’ve continued on the trip without me.”
“…” Isla squinted her eyes. “What are you talking about, Arthur?” She asked as if she didn’t understand what he meant.
“Why would we move on without you, brother? You’re now a part of our group! We don’t leave our friends behind, do we?” Herculia shrugged casually. “Isn’t that right, Danny?”
“Tsk, we would’ve been fine without him…” The boy rolled his eyes as he looked away.
“In any case, we cannot continue without you. You’re an irreplaceable part of the trip.” Isla said as she opened her inventory and gave Arthur two items. “Here, we found these outside the gate when we came out of it. I assume they’re yours.”
Arthur, still flabbergasted, looked at the items before he nodded faintly.
“Good, let’s move on then. The time is late, but we can at least find a good spot to camp.” She then turned around and walked back to her horse.
“I think I saw a good spot not that far away from here,” Emmy suggested.
“Didn’t we spend the night around here last time?” Herculia asked.
“We can’t keep using the same spots or we will catch monsters’ attention,” Danny replied.
As everyone was discussing their next step, Arthur watched them with wide eyes. The feeling he had at that moment was something he had never imagined before. Their words resonated in his head again and again like an echo.
Eventually, a small smile drew on his face. A smile, unlike any smile he ever had.
“Guys.” He said.
“Hm?”
“… Thank you… For coming back for me. I really… I really appreciate that.” He said awkwardly.
‘A friend, huh? I guess that’s why…’ For some reason, Arthur wanted to laugh at how stupid he was. He had underestimated these people again even though they had shown him a good part of their nature already.
They saw Arthur not as a mere collaborator, but as a companion and as a friend. He had never imagined he would be gaining friends in such a manner, but he felt very happy with it.
His very first friends in this life were in Divinity Online. It could’ve not been any more ironic than it already was.
“Hey, don’t sweat it, man. Without you, we would’ve been screwed over.” Herculia laughed.
“We should be the ones grateful. The way you defeated that monster was amazing.” Emmy added with a smile.
“I couldn’t see what happened. But, from what they told me, you had put your life at risk to deal a deadly blow. I am grateful for that, Arthur. You have given us a lot.” Isla turned around and looked at him straight in the eyes. He could see the genuine gratitude emitting from her eyes at that moment.
A//N: Sorry for taking a while to update the last tier 🙂 I hope you enjoy and support the book, friends.
