Chapter 26: I’m Out Of Here

Chapter 26: Chapter 26: I’m Out Of Here

Victor ran through the village, his breathing heavy and heart pounding loudly in his chest.

Still, he did not stop.

As he did, he saw the silhouette of what he assumed to be Kiki behind a hut, she merely gazed at him. She did not stop him.

Then again, he did not stop running.

No, he could not.

That gaze Popo had. It was raw and bridled.

Victor now understood. He now understood why Popo had agreed for the battle to not happen today.

Meaning that even if he had proposed for the battle to happen a month from now, or even a year, Popo would have agreed. After all, it would give him more time to flush the memory and love for his little brother from his system.

Clearly, Popo had picked the pride of a warrior and the position of chief over his own brother.

Meaning Victor had either overestimated his place in Popo’s heart, or Popo was just that kind of person.

The pride of a Barbarian. It ran deeper than Victor could have ever imagined. Even the game play had never shown him this much of it.

The weight of love and death, balanced on one scale.

Brotherhood with the presentation of a double edged sword.

No one in their right minds in the real world would do such a thing.

This was madness. Absolutely madness. Everyone is mad. Kiki, Popo, Jaja.

And for some reason, Victor’s heart told him that the others were like this.

But how? How was it possible?

Victor flashed back to Popo. To Jaja. How could they hold such love, and yet such conviction to go all the way to death for it?

They could die for one another. And in the same breath, kill one another, if the so called ancestors demanded it.

He remembered Popo cutting down that barbarian who’d fallen to cowardice.

And yet Victor knew, without doubt, that Popo would still protect him in a heartbeat if need be.

Just like Jaja had done for him.

This was their definition of family.

This barbaric way of life. No. It was not the life for him.

If two weeks truly elapsed, and Popo emptied his heart of his brother the way he intended to, then Victor, who didn’t know the first thing about real combat, would die a stupid death.

Victor could already feel the axe’s blade uprooting his head from his neck.

His body shivered, fear enveloping him.

He broke into the tree line at a dead sprint.

Branches clawed at his arms, his face, tearing thin lines across his skin but he barely registered it.

His feet found roots he couldn’t see in the dark, and twice he nearly went down, catching himself against trunks that scraped his palms raw.

Blood spilled. But Victor would not stop.

Faster. Faster. I need to get there.

His foot caught something that wasn’t a root.

The world spun. Pain lanced up his leg as something bit into his ankle. It was thin, taut, unforgiving, and the ground rushed up to meet him.

He hit hard, rolling, a jagged rock or root scraping a long line across his side that stole the breath clean out of him.

Aarrrhhh! Victor winced in pain. He lay there a second, stunned, before he registered the trap still clamped around his ankle.

Groaning, he forced himself up onto his elbows and looked down the slope he’d tumbled into.

It was a shallow, sunken ridge. The ground beneath him was slick and dark.

This was Oil.

He could smell it now, thick and sharp, seeping up from the earth in a wide, glistening pool.

Scattered around its edges were bones. An antelope’s ribcage, half-sunk. Something smaller nearby, picked clean. When he looked further, he found that there was more. Other animals, done fresh and others old.

This was clearly a hunting trap. One of those traps the barbarians set to catch whatever wandered too close.

And the oil? It was from the trees. These things specifically produced only oil.

[Player has fallen prey to premitive barbarian trap]

[Mobility impaired]

[Continous Loss of blood will result in loss of HP]

–1 Hp

–1 Hp

–1 Hp

He didn’t have time to think about it further. He sighed heavily then gritted his teeth and yanked his ankle free of the snare, hissing at the fresh line of pain that tore across his skin as it gave way.

Then he stood to his feet with much effort. The pain had helped the fear calm down a bit. Allowing him the opportunity to think.

He was moving again. Limping now, favoring the good leg.

The shrine appeared before his eyes minutes later. Still the same three-headed carving of the barbarian looming pale in the moonlight. It looked like it had been patiently waiting for him to come back

[Barbarian Ancestral Shrine of Worthiness]

Victor dropped to his knees in front of it, fumbling the anima free from his pouch with shaking fingers.

"I’m getting the fuck out of here."

He pressed it into the waiting hollow at the statue’s chest.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then light, soft at first, blooming outward, spilled from the carving and washed over him entirely.

Meanwhile back at the village, Kiki stood watching the forest.

She hummed a song lowly. Unlike the one of the other day, it was not sorrowful.

Rather, it carried a kind of understanding, but longing. Yet it’s meaning was life challenging.

The wind carried her voice in the air and then when she reached the zenith of her song, it happened.

She saw a green light glow from within the forest. Her brows frowned.

"Such a fool."

She gave a defeated sigh, then she turned and headed back for the night.

She was not the only looking in that direction. Coco also stared.

(Author’s note: I’d love if you guys send powerstones and golden tickets to the book. And tell me if you are enjoying it. Thanks for all the love and support)