The Earth Online

39 Preparations for the Next World Part 9

“What the hell happened to you, guys?” Kedrick asked Ygritte and Haya, as the druid and berserker were mostly covered in blood.

They all just arrived at the Melam Military Base, and both pairs looked extremely tired. The battles mentally and emotionally exhausted them, as they all laid down on the large sofa in the living room.

“Damn, bro, like change your clothes first at least.” Kedrick complained as he saw how bloody Haya’s clothes were. Thaleos nodded his head in agreement, since everyone in the group was pretty strict with cleanliness.

The berserker just rolled his eyes and went to his room the take a shower. The man seemed to be quieter than usual, which concerned the three teammates.

After a minute or two, they all decided to follow suit and also took a shower in their own bathrooms.

Once everyone was done taking a shower, they all went back to the living room to talk about each pair’s quest.

“So, how did it go?” The bearded man asked Haya and Ygritte. After noticing Haya maintaining his silence, he knew that something had happened. 

The bearded man looked at Ygritte for an explanation, as the berserker just shrugged his shoulders.

“Well, Haya activated both of his skills at the same, which in result, doubled his bloodlust.” Even before hearing the young druid’s last words, he knew that the tan man probably lost control and was now feeling guilty about the attacks.

Kedrick understood this, too, as he lowered his head in a somber mood. After giving the man some time to go through his emotion, Ygritte initiated the conversation again by continuing,

“We won over the small group of bandits and got about four blood souls. At least, the small villages and farms will no longer be terrorized by that disgusting group.”

Haya nodded his head to an extent, but still felt guilty about the way they were killed. He shook his head and knew that he had to start controlling his bloodlust.

“What about you, guys? What happened?” The druid asked the two men in a serious tone. She directly gazed at them and then reached out of her pocket to hand them the blood souls.

“Some crazy stuff happened, there were undead bodies and ghosts. It was insane. And the worst thing about it is that the man had six other necromancers helping him. It was definitely unfair, but we got seven blood souls.” Thaleos explained in length, he knew that this was one way to ease down Haya’s triggered state.

Kedrick also piped in, “Yeah, it was horrifying but not impossible.” Ygritte uncrossed her arms and gave them a comforting smile. Haya also explained how similar their situation was and proclaimed his hatred for ghouls, yet again.

This made the other members smile because of how Haya was a faithful advocate of removing horror films altogether.

After debriefing about the whole issue, they all decided to call it a day and just rest in their rooms.

Throughout the whole night, the house trembled because of everyone’s snores.

~ ~ ~

The next morning, Thaleos woke up because of the sound of someone knocking on the door. It took him a couple minutes to shake off his dazed state.

After a couple minutes of silence, someone knocked on the door again.

“What the hell? How is it possible that we have neighbors? We’re literally in the middle of nowhere.” Thaleos complained as he stood up and washed his face.

He knew that it was probably dangerous to just open the door, so he decided to peek through his blinds and saw a familiar black-haired dude.

As soon as he heard the bobbing head calling his name, he quickly unlocked all of the door’s six locks.

“Ryan? What the f**k, man? How the hell did you find us?” The bearded man asked in exasperation. The man before him just flashed his pearly white smile and entered the base as if it was his own house.

“Come on, Thaleos. You know me. I’m the master of knowing everything about everyone.” The tawny skin man explained while making himself at home in their couch.

“Nice place you got here.” Ryan whistled as he looked around the modern yet cozy interior of the base.

“It better be, damn I had to borrow money from Manny and kill people off for him.” Thaleos explained while sitting beside the tawny-skinned man.

Hearing the noise from outside their room, Haya and Kedrick came out of their rooms. On the other hand, Ygritte was still snoozing away as she was enjoying her resting time.

They all knew how hard it was to wake up the young druid.

“Ryan, is that you? What the f**k, man! So good to see you.” Kedrick bellowed in excitement, as the other man stood up to give him a brief hug.

“Kedrick, my man. Haya, greatest architecture in Haine. How’s everything?” Ryan gave Haya a quick hug, as well, before sitting back down in his original spot.

The other two decided to sit on the dining chairs.

“Yeah. It’s been okay. Wish I could still claim that architecture title now, it’s basically useless. I’m now a Berserker and hating every second of it.” Haya replied in a sarcastic manner.

“Oh yeah, that’s pretty cool, what made you choose that?” Ryan chimed in, as he knew how the man felt pretty iffy about violence.

“I had to face this demon, somehow.” The berserker gloomily explained. Kedrick gave him a comforting smile and started,

“Well, I’m a priest and I—” Before the gentle giant could even finish his sentence, Ryan busted out laughing while clutching unto his stomach.

Thaleos gave out his own chuckle, warranting a glare from Kedrick.

“As I was saying, I’m a Priest and I wanted to follow my dreams. Serving the people.” This second line made the tawny man laugh again and said in mid-laughter,

“I swear, this dude crack’s me up every single time. Remember how he went to our classroom one time, asking for a girl’s number?” Thaleos looked at Ryan as he asked the question and smiled in agreement.

“Again, I wasn’t a saint back in university, but I am now.” They all just shook their heads in laughter. The tawny man then paused and started,

“I’m actually a Knight. I know, I know, typical for the son of the Secretary-General of the Municipal Committee. Playing hero and all that stuff. But I’ve got to say, I’ve really enjoyed it so far.”

Everyone knew how the man always had big ambitions when it came to leading people. His charismatic self and leadership skills almost always dissolved classroom disagreements and tense atmospheres.

The man knew how to communicate and adjust to every single person he comes across with.

“What about you, smarty pants? What is the Mighty Thaleos’ profession?” Ryan jokingly asked, as he secretly admired the aloof but smart friend.

“I’m a Beast Tamer.” The bearded man responded, as he directed his gaze at the tawny man. The other man was confused and said,

“I was so sure that you’d go for an Assassin or Illusionist or something. A Beast Tamer, huh? That’s really interesting.

After a couple of seconds of silence, Kedrick asked Ryan, “So, dude, what brings you to our lovely abode?”

“Well, I just wanted to invite you guys for a reunion, along with our other university friends. Since this new apocalyptic world happened, I think it’d be good to connect and build strategies together, you know?” The knight’s eyes shined in excitement, as he was eager to reconnect with his university friends.

“That’s a great idea, Ryan! Hopefully, Max, Thea, and all the others are okay. Have you gotten in touch with any of them yet?” Thaleos was getting pretty excited, as well. Kedrick and Haya also joined in the fun and was asking all kinds of questions about the reunion.

Although Haya was younger than them, they were all in the same debating and volunteering club.

“Yep, I’m actually really glad everyone’s alive. You were the last ones that I was planning to contact. The grand finale and all that stuff.” Ryan explained as he animatedly moved his hands to explain how the others were doing.

“Again, that’s such an awesome idea. So, where’s this reunion going to take place in?” Thaleos prompted as he rubbed his hands together.

“Well, remember that hotel with had our graduation ball in? I was thinking we could do it there. I mean it’s pretty cool how they’re still operating and all that stuff.” The knight babbled out as he remembered all the fun memories they had in the place.

“Damn, yes! So when is it gonna be? And can we do anything else to help?” Haya interjected, since the berserker was also obsessed with organizing events for his past university clubs.

“Yeah, actually, I just needed help with getting some food from the Lagash Interpoint, just so we can have a diverse menu.” The knight responded and flashed his eyes.

Finally waking up from all the ruckus in the living room, Ygritte went outside of her room and saw the four men talking to each other.

“Also, one more thing, you can bring a date if you want to.”