A few years after the arrival of Cain

“I don’t know man; I’m stressed,” Cain said from across the table, his head resting in his right hand. It still amused me how much Cain changed when he realized I didn’t particularly care for professionalism. Excluding first impressions and my own journal obviously, who knows if some people thousands of years in the future read it. I would be embarrassed if it was a super basic journal.

“You shouldn’t worry too much about it. You are only level twenty-six. I didn’t get my class until twenty-eight,” I responded. I was once in his shoes —a few years prior actually— I could understand his concern.

“How did you deal with it? More importantly, how did you get your class dude? Why are you being so cryptic and stuff?”

“You see, to truly understand your future, your future must understand you.”

“Yuclaus… you know that doesn't make sense. Not at all. Just tell me bro.”

“Well, I didn’t have much to go on. I had heard a rumor somewhere that you need to complete a trial of some sort. After asking around, I heard some people literally entered a space frozen in time to complete a physical trial. Crazy huh? More often than not, the trial seemed to be an accomplishment one needed to achieve, or a conclusion one reached. I obviously leaned towards the accomplishment track, much to my mistake.

“I had gone into the class selection process thinking it analyzed what you had done, and hence, I needed to have accomplished more. So, I went on my own to hunt for stronger beasts, luxurious resources, or sacred sites. Sadly, I had no companion who would go with me. I know what you’re thinking, why didn’t I ask Sam, Lani, or Justine? I felt like they had so much responsibility on their shoulders, and were busy. Looking back, that was foolish of me, I should have just asked for their help.

“The point was, I went into all these adventures on my own. Since my mind was so caught up on the ‘accomplishments’ I wasted levels 25-28 on a fool's errand. Accomplishments were not my path. So what I’m saying is, I can’t tell you how I ended up getting a class, it would just get in the way of you attaining yours.”

“AFTER ALL OF THAT BUILDUP, YOU CAN'T JUST DO THAT TO ME DUDE!” I laughed at his outburst, and continued laughing as the rant went on for the next minute.

“One step after the other,” Yuclaus mumbled to himself, as he walked across the treeless land towards the group of five that likewise walked towards him. Yuclaus was surprised that his leg was able to hold its weight for this long. He thought by now it would have given out for sure, grounding him firmly in front of an extremely dangerous woman. I personally would not mind that situation; I would just stand up, walk it off a bit. Did you think I would make some perverse comment? Please, I have some tact.

Our hero started to immediately regret his decision to listen to Isencia as he went forward. Yes, he trusted her. No, this did not make remotely any sense. He was literally walking towards the people he was avoiding just minutes ago. Unless she heard something in their dialogue, he could think of no other way for her to do a one-eighty like that. If she did overhear it, why couldn’t she have just told him? He was a little upset because it reminded him more of their early relationship: Isencia barely communicating with him and keeping him in the dark.

Yet, he pressed onwards. His injured leg seemed to compress ever so slightly, like an extremely tough spring. Car suspension? His injured right leg seemed to compress ever so slightly, like a car’s suspension. Every step caused him to lean a little, making a visible dip occur in his step. It was no doubt observed from the other party moving towards him. He would be upset at the black serpent, that leviathan, but in the end, they parted ways semi-amicably. He hoped a similar occurrence was about to take place.

“JUSTINIA,” the blue haired woman, Meagan, yelled. Yuclaus felt his hope at a semi-amicable exit was dashed. The woman who had extremely good hearing, enough to find Isencia’s vine network, was starting to yell at —what he believed— was the dangerous one, Justine. I thought it was Justine, is it now Justinia? Cause asked in his mind. I am tempted to ask Sen if I’m right, but I have a feeling the crazy, blue-haired chick is going to hear. I am fairly certain they aren't one-hundred percent sure that there’s another with me. Probably.

As Yuclaus was debating how much the group knew, or perhaps, if there was a way to communicate with Isencia, he saw the party continue their march. Welp. I guess I don’t have much of a choice but to keep going. Cause continued walking out to meet them. He tried to at least. Soon after he had continued to move, unseen by Cause, his leg started to go translucent once more. It may have been unseen, but it was most definitely felt. As the pink substance was slowly made visible beneath the vine Isencia had wrapped around his leg, Yuclaus started to feel his limp increase. The spring was being evermore compressed with every step. It continued this way, until it gave out.

His amorphous leg bent. Yuclaus felt himself start to fall. However, rather than reach out to catch himself, he ensured one hand was holding the glasses on his face. He still had some surprise on his side, and while he could take a fall, he couldn’t take back revealing his secrets. Yuclaus felt as if he was on the cusp of falling, when the vine tightened, pulling the pink blob straight. He was able to step forward, and catch himself. The leg slowly started to flicker back to normalcy, allowing him to continue walking.

“Thank you,” Yuclaus whispered to Isencia. He assumed she could still hear him. These vines were made from Isencia’s body rather than her spore. It only stood to reason she wouldn’t need her spore connected to communicate with them. His theory was proved correct when the vine on his left arm squeezed reassuringly. Yuclaus looked up, and found that he was closer to the party than he expected. He could start to see their features now.

There was Meagan, an… interesting looking woman with a sword, a fully armored gentleman with no helmet, a prince with a staff, and last but not least, Justine. Justine looked oddly familiar to Yuclaus. It was as if he had seen someone quite recently that resembled her. He thought back to the people he had met, and compiled a list: Isencia. There were the adventurers, the goat, the snake, Gourami —screw Gourami—, and Isencia’s mother, but he had never really met most of them, and the rest were animals. Eh, if I don’t remember, it must not be important, he reasoned.

It was also soon swept from his mind when he saw how Justine seemed to almost crumple on herself. He had no better way to describe it, but luckily as I am far more robust in my descriptions —let me have this— I can! Yuclaus was witnessing Justine have a mild panic attack. Her shoulders drew in, her back hunched ever so slightly, and she seemed to be holding onto herself as if it could carry her away from the truth before her. See? Not bad if I say so myself.

Yuclaus noticed this, and any idea of searching for the familiarity was replaced with concern for her, and worry for himself. This was not the reaction he was expecting at all. Maybe he would see aggression, anger, questioning glances. Perhaps he would see a smile, maybe he would need to defend himself immediately. He did not expect to see one girl seem to shrivel, Meagan yell —and it seemed she was also crying now that he is closer—, an armored man death stare him as he was helping Justine, the prince awkwardly smiling at him, and the not so attractive blonde girl look at him like he was desssert. A desert has one s, a dessert has two as you want more of it, a desssert has three because it is a treat.

Justine went on to look at the ground as he got closer. Finally, I was before the party. Yuclaus stood for a second, making sure everything he had seen from further wasn’t his imagination. Lo and behold, it was not his imagination. He truly wished it was, as the awkwardness of the situation affected him for once. Normally, he could kind of shrug off common awkward occurrences, but with Justine shaking while looking at the ground, Meagan silently crying, prince-man still uncomfortably smiling, armor-man death staring, and blonde-woman making Yuclaus hope title nine existed in this world; it was safe to say he was feeling awkward.

“Are you ok?” He decided to ask. When only the prince looked around thinking of something to say, Yuclaus decided to push. “No seriously, what's going on? I thought you guys wanted to, I don't know, talk or something. Why are two of you crying and the other three look like you just got clubbed over the head.” He regretted what he said, it seemed too pushy, insensitive. How else was he supposed to react? He decided to throw in a joke to hopefully lighten the mood, “Trust me, I am an expert on the second one.”

I am fairly certain the only people who truly processed his words chose to ignore it. It was one of his weakest jokes, I will say. Justine finally looked up at Yuclaus. He saw tears streaming down her face as she stared at him, and he was at a complete loss. For a moment he just opened and closed his mouth, eyes locked with Justine. He went with Plan B: try to get out of the situation.

“Hey, I am pretty confused at what’s going on. I can just, you know, go, if that works. I just came because Ise— I thought you wanted to talk,” Yuclaus amended his words when the vine on his arm squeezed very hard. The message got across: Yuclaus, you’re being stupid, don’t make a simple slip up like that. Now, I may be personifying myself in that message, but I would like to believe Isencia was on the same page.

When Yuclaus had said he could just leave, the two crying women looked like he backhanded them across the face before spitting on their shoes. The pure shock, and the explicit “why?” in their expressions conveyed their sentiment exquisitely. The armored man just looked disappointed. The blonde looked like she wanted him to try to escape her. You know, the blonde is starting to grow on me.

“What do you mean just leave? Don't you reco—” Justine was cut off when Meagan squeezed her bicep. It was very reminiscent of what Isencia did just moments prior with Yuclaus. The message was once again simple: Justine, you’re being stupid, we literally just talked about you not saying anything.

All in all, I was quite happy with this situation. Who knew Yuclaus could be such a good actor? Or should I say, I know he isn’t such a good actor, which is why this is so perfect. There is no way Yuclaus would normally be this awkward. He would shrug it off, laugh, or do some of his “this is just a dream” nonsense. Well, he used to at least. The point is, with how long their meeting was taking, and the party's mental instability, it was perfect for me.

“I’m so sorry,” Meagan said wiping her face with the back of her hand, “I am normally not like this at all! I thought you were someone else. How silly of me. How about we start this again? Hey, I’m Meagan, it's nice to meet you,” Meagan’s attempt to act like herself failed to convince her party, but Yuclaus was none the wiser. On instinct he put out his hand when he saw hers move.

“I’m Yuclaus,” The only way to notice that Meagan was startled was the slight twitch of her eye. Justine’s mind switched from shock, to calculative, “No worries, it happens. The pleasure is all mine!” He looked down to shake her hand, but that was when he realized he put out his left, while she put out her right.

Normally, such an action would be laughed off, and ignored by all parties. However, although Yuclaus laughed it off, and quickly adjusted, it was not ignored. Yuclaus was very confused at why Meagan was shaking with her right hand. Being right handed is rare enough that people usually just shake with their left right? He asked himself. Meanwhile, Meagan and Justine had noted something very important: Yuclaus, their Yuclaus, had been right handed. It was at that moment, when things were at their most critical moment, that Jenny jumped in.

“Dang boy, are you an Environ, because I want to explore those woods,” She finished it with a lip bite, and very obviously combed over his body with her eyes. Yuclaus was very glad the vine covered his exposed leg. He didn’t know whether it was intuition, or baseless fear, but he felt if she had seen it, he would have been in for a… surprise. In any case, Yuclaus was once more taken off guard.

“W-what?” Before he could say much more, Khalil made his move.

“Well met, Yuclaus! I’m Khalil,” The princely looking man reached out his left hand, which Cause shook on instinct with his left as well. It was noted. “I am so sorry about the reception we have given you. Where is our hospitality?” He looked at his party members and shook his head in exasperation. Jenny stifled a laugh at how he was acting. She made sure to burn this into her mind. The normally introvertive, speculative planner was now taking control of the situation. She would be sure to give a vivid reenactment when they got back to the guild.

“No, it really is fine,” Yucalus said, though he was ready to go, “it seems I arrived at an… unfortunate time. In any case, I was just passing by. I’ll be on my way so as to not bother you.” He made to step around the party when Khalil intercepted.

“Where are you off to, Yu? Can I call you that?” Yuclaus was not against Khalil calling him Yu, but it felt wrong. He could only recall Isencia calling him Yu, and it felt like someone was taking her nickname for him. He shook his head, trying to get focused.

“I’m just headed to the elevator,” he internally cringed at himself. How could he make such another simple mistake. The pressure he felt on his arm mirrored his thoughts. Isencia was also not happy. However, when there was no real visible reaction, other than Khalil smiling a little wider before continuing. Meagan knew what the cause for Khalil’s joy was.

“Well Yu, what a coincidence! We were just headed that direction as well! Don’t you know, it is dangerous to travel alone. Would you want to join us?”

“Thank you but I am— I would love to join you,” Yuclaus truly meant that he would love to join them. Why wouldn’t he want to travel with them? There is safety in numbers after all. Not to mention, it was quite convenient that he stumbled upon an adventuring party that was headed the same direction. Why was he acting so weird before? Dangerous? Why would any of these people be dangerous? The only reason he could think of is that Jenny was a different kind of danger for him. There was no tightening of a vine on his arm.

Everyone who heard that was surprised except for Khalil. Meagan was surprised, but not as much as the rest. Well, except Darryn, it seemed he didn’t care much. Good.

“We are actually headed to the city, Fort Colon. It is along the way. You could stock up on supplies before heading for the elevator. We wouldn’t be able to follow you after the city, but we can at least show you around,” Khalil continued.

“I would love to show you a good time,” Jenny purred. Yuclaus shivered ever so slightly before responding.

“Oh, sure. I was actually considering visiting on my way in the first place.” Though Yuclaus and Isencia had mentioned it, they had never truly solidified their decision. Another system would be crucial to them both. However, though they never came to that decision, in this moment, they were of one mind.

“Well, light’s burning, shall we get going?” Khalil threw his arm around Yuclaus’ shoulder, making sure to peek behind Cause’s glasses while doing so. He mentally nodded to himself, and shifted some of his plans. Jenny didn’t know what was going on, but she trusted Khalil. He had to have a good reason for all of this, and she was no fool. She knew something more important than multisystem users was afoot. Not that it mattered too much, the symbol on Yuclaus’ neck was a giveaway. He was obviously Reform. Orthodox don’t have tan skin. However, she would keep it to herself, and make sure to really enjoy her new company.

Meagan and Justine were both surprised at the ease of which the adventurers had switched objectives. Yet, it was good for both of them. They were sent because of a change in the situation, and had found a very key indicator of that situation. Justine had been analyzing Yuclaus’ actions for a bit now, and the shock at seeing her brother had been replaced with suspicion. Meagan had also mentioned she knew what was going on. Justine looked to Meagan, and after receiving a nod, decided to go along with it.

“Ugh, do we have to introduce ourselves?” Justine said, “I’m Justine,” She gave a wave.

“Darryn.” Darryn.

“And I’m Jenny,” Jenny went to Yuclaus’ other side, trailing her hand down his back softly. “The pleasure is all mine.”