Part of me thought sleep was the right answer to heal my body faster, and while that was probably accurate, it was nowhere near a safe idea at the moment. Once Floof finished his explorations, I would consider it, but at the moment it was far too dangerous to let myself rest that deeply.
Still, there were plenty of things I could do while I waited for the return. For one thing, I finally had time to empower the Shield mana orb within the runic blade. I also potentially had a second-tier Growth ability I could unlock alongside another first-tier Shield. Though both of those, again, required a deeper bond with the orbs than I was usually able to manifest.
The fact that I'd been able to do it at all for the first tier of the Growth orb was nothing short of a miracle. Alecks always made it look like it was so easy. And I had no idea how he could do that. And then again, as my brother had grown up, he began to ooze more and more personality. Some people had charisma; that man was charisma.
A memory flashed through my mind, distracting me from the current pain and reality of my situation.
***
“Look, have you ever considered not eating us? I mean, there's not a lot of meat to us anyway. And while I concede you caught us fair and square, we are entirely within your control. You could eat us if you chose to, after all, but why? What is there to gain from eating us? Eighdum and I are surprisingly resourceful. Perhaps there's something else we can do for you,” Alecks said.
The brothers had been on their way to a kingdom in search of a specialized mana orb Alecks had desperately wanted when they were ambushed in a forest by a large creature neither of them had ever heard of. Surprisingly, despite its seeming interest in eating both of them, it was incredibly talkative, which was unusual for random monsters. Somehow it reminded Eighdum of his brother in that way.
“I've considered much. But I don't know that I would be living up to the name of a Jabbercrumb if I didn't eat you. After all, my family has eaten intruders to this forest for all of their lineage. Did you not wonder why no one took this path?” The creature replied. Its head looked like some sort of shark had been glued onto the body of a colossal chicken.
The sight had actually tempted laughter out of Eighdum, but after the monster's quick attack, any humor had died in his throat. The creature had managed to breathe fire from that mouth, and the claws on the tip of its wings slashed through the air in a way that left imprints. And when Adam accidentally touched one of them, his entire arm had gone numb, and the feeling still hadn't returned.
“Is that your name or your species name? Either way, I've never really heard of a Jabbercrumb. That said, I'm Alecks. This is Eighdum, and we’re just two bumbling Humans trying to find our way to the city of Clongrior. What if instead of eating us, you gave us directions and we invited you to have a party with us later? Parties are fun. Everyone loves a good party,” Alecks replied.
His voice had taken on the tone that Eighdum heard so many times out of his brother as of late. He had gone down a class path that let him better talk to everyone around him. Eighdum was pretty sure one day the man would be capable of convincing a rock to dance, but he wasn't so sure he could talk his way out of this just yet.
Both of them had grown so much since they were kids. So much of that naivety was gone. It had been replaced by a driving need to change the System-Space for all the future kids that would be forced into it. Neither of them wanted them stuck experiencing the horrors they had that first night.
That was the real reason they were on this quest and in this forest. Alecks wanted a full set of influential mana orbs. He was sure they would help them form their own faction on the right footing. And while they were likely already powerful enough to create a small one, Alecks wanted to do it right. He wanted something that would last the test of time.
And because of that, they were now about to be eaten by a strange forest monster.
“What's in it for me if I don't eat you? My reputation is pretty strongly based on eating everyone who comes into this forest. What if it got out that I let you two escape without being eaten? Can you imagine how many annoyances would come in here looking for my treasure then? No, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have to eat you. But if it helps, my name is Boblin.”
Learning that name had pushed Eighdum closer to laughter again. Who named someone Boblin? Was it some sort of standard family name for Jabbercrumbs? The whole situation was teetering on the edge of ridiculousness.
Alecks smiled. That only pushed this further down the line of a farce. Eighdum bit his tongue before he said something stupid himself.
Considering they were both dangling upside down by their legs from a tree that the creature had hung them in while they were unconscious, Eighdum wasn't sure just what his brother was smiling about. Not that this was the first time he had seen his brother seemingly happy at their own plights. And it wasn't like every time he had witnessed that before, things had ever gotten too much worse before they got better. Which meant it was time to play into just whatever he had planned.
“Boblin, pal, buddy, new friend who we've always wanted to meet. Just hear me out. My brother and I are surprisingly adept adventurers. We survived a system integration as kids on our own for months alone. And now we're on this path to forming our own empire, faction, monarchy, whatever you want to call it. Names aren't important there. And here you are, a giant scary monster guarding some treasure in a forest on a far away planet. What if instead you get in on the ground floor of this faction? Eighdum's a pretty powerful guy himself, but we could always use a giant monster.”
“I don't know. Dad always said the world was pretty strange outside this forest. Then again, there aren't any Jabbercrumbs left in the forest besides me, and it is getting kinda lonely,” Boblin paused for a moment, looking deep in thought. Or at least that was what Eighdum thought a shark had looked like when it was deep in thought. He still wasn't remotely sure about anything regarding these creatures.
One of Boblin's legs scratched furiously at the ground before he looked back up at the brothers. “What would I get out of joining you exactly? Can I eat your enemies? Is that how things work outside of the forest?”
“I mean, maybe? Have you actually ever eaten anyone before? You seem pretty gung-ho about the whole idea, but you don't look like someone who has eaten people before,” Alecks replied, raising one of his eyebrows.
Looking abashed, Boblin replied. “Well, no, not really. But mom said that's what you do. We guard the forest, and we eat the intruders. I guess I've eaten a lot of bugs. Those count as intruders, right? And you two are here, and I could eat you. And then I'd be a true guardian of the forest.”
“Wait, wait, wait, wait. Did you say guardian of the forest? Boblin, you didn't say you were a guardian of the forest before. Buddy, that's a whole new title you got going there. Now there's no way you can eat us. We gotta figure out what you're guarding. Do you even know?”
“Um. There's treasure somewhere, I think. At least Dad used to say there was. He hadn't seen it either. But a long time ago, some group of knights put us in charge of keeping everyone out of this forest. It was our job to eat any intruders and keep their sacred treasure hidden until the right people came back for it. Wasn't that obvious?” Boblin asked, his head swiveling between both of the brothers.
“No, not really. Sorry, we weren't here for the treasure. We had something else in mind entirely. But maybe it's serendipity we ran into each other. You're the last guardian of the forest; we're two guys looking to start a faction, and you just so happen to have some secret relic out here. Really sounds like you should join us, to me. Hell, you ever consider maybe you're the one who's supposed to get that treasure?” Alecks asked, his smile growing larger.
“I hadn't ever really considered that. Is it really possible I was the one that was supposed to get the treasure? Me, a Jabbercrumb and not a knight?”
“Well, you are the last Jabbercrumb. Who'll be left to guard the treasure after you're gone? Seems to me fate was setting you up to take it. Go out there into the wider universe, find some more Jabbercrumbs somewhere. If that's what you want, join up with us. Build something bigger than yourself. How long have you been alone here anyway?”
Eighdum almost couldn't believe it. Alecks really was on the path of talking their way out of this. Hell, it was better than that. It really looked like Boblin was about to join them. Did they really somehow have their first recruit before their faction was even formed?
“It's been a while. Mom and Dad were already pretty sick when I hatched. So they taught me everything they could real quick. Then they went off on what they called their final journey, and I promised them I'd grow up real big and take care of everything while they were gone. It's been a little lonely, but I've done my duty. I've kept everyone out of the forest!”
Eighdum could feel the pride in that last sentence. But at the same time, this was just a kid who had been left all alone, and that was something Eighdum hated about the System. For all its power, it just left kids to flounder on their own, desperately trying to find a way to survive.
“Well, that just settles it. There is no way we can leave you in here alone. You need friends. You need to learn about the bigger world. So nope, you don't get to eat us. Instead, we're gonna put our current plans on hiatus, and we're gonna help you find that treasure. How's that sound, Boblin? The three of us will figure out just what the mysteries of this forest are, and then you're going to join our little group.”
“Alright, you've convinced me. I won't eat you. Wonder what the treasure is, though. You think it'll be interesting?”
***
It had been so long since I'd even thought of Boblin. What had happened to him since the faction had collapsed? Hopefully Alecks had found a way to at least get him back to his forest, if that's what he wanted.
Though considering I didn't even know what happened to Alecks, anything was possible. Who knew what level of trouble he'd managed to get himself into and probably right back out again in my absence. God, I hoped he’d at least made peace with our sister.
I missed them both. And once we were through with whatever mess we were in here, I was gonna find them, and dammit, we were gonna work through all of our family issues. They were going to meet their niece and nephew. And then we were putting the damn faction back together, and this time nothing was going to make me run.