Chapter 315 - Days MLXV - MLXVI

I couldn't sleep for a long time, and when I finally did, I had nightmares. I was watching my family getting butchered, just the way I did to Xuvi. At the moment of waking up, I realized that I'm doing it. I was the murderer.

This made me almost jump on my feet. It was still a few hours before dawn, but I didn't want to dream anymore. I needed some fresh air, so I sneaked outside.

In the grayishness of fading night, I could only see the outlines of buildings around me. There was nobody awake. The streets were empty, just like the city center. I went for a stroll, thinking about what I did. It was pleasantly cool outside, considering the usual warmth.

It was a terrible price to pay, but at least we were safe now. There were only peaceful Uhm's around, and The Great One, who didn't seem to want our deaths anymore. "Maybe after the long period of constant turmoil, we earned some time of peace for ourselves", I thought.

Right now was definitely the best moment to focus on hunting, completely. I needed to travel to Loistavadvaar to get the informations necessary to open a pathway to earth for us, but to get there I probably should be able to face ghosts or at least have a shot of running from those things. Considering what I saw a few days ago, I wasn't so far from achieving that.

I needed a greater goal ahead of me, to justify the things I have done. To have a purpose. I needed to ignite my determination.

Then I started calculating how many hunting grounds I can cover on a single day. I quickly got to the conclusion that I shouldn't have too much trouble with three if all of those would be on the level of difficulty comparable to the ones I was clearing right then.

I really wanted to go deeply into the ogre cave, but that damn labyrinth was too much. Maybe if I could go deep enough that place could become more attractive if the number of enemies would increase. In the dungeons, there was always more monsters, but compared to any other hunting ground, this one seemed to be one big dungeon.

Maybe it was time to invest in the second tome of The Manual? There could be some useful data there.

I needed a plan, a goal to fulfill. Something smaller than travel to Loistavadvaar, but also something that would be a first step of getting there. Acquiring more information seemed just like that, so I decided to cover two hunting grounds with Ki'rai, and then go alone to the ogre cave.

With that In my mind, I returned to my room. It was already morning, and my little lizard was gone. I want to look for her, and I found her in the cafeteria, eating. There was a bunch of people around her, asking many questions. She was answering some.

People didn't seem to be bothering her too much, so I just went to take a bath, then grabbed some food, and we eventually reunited in my room.

- Are we hunting today? - she asked.

- Yes, but we will be changing the way we hunt somewhat. We will start as we used to, but after we finish, I'm going to hunt some alone in the ogre cave. I will be returning late, so you might have to wake me up from now on.

She nodded.

- Did something happened?

- I just... I have a little plan, and I need to hunt some more to fulfill it.

She nodded again, ad then smiled at me.

- Let's go hunt!

I smiled back, and picked up my things, just as she did. Then we went outside to use the device. Once again because of her we didn't need to stand in line, and could immediately start out shopping. We got the necessary things, and shadow walked to the lizardfolk settlement.

I earned 1 558 800 points from there, and another 4 920 000 from the graveyard. Not to mention two class points.

After that, we separated our ways. Ki'rai ran to the Velvet Lotus to hang out with the girls, and I went back to hunting. This time the ogre cave. I spend quite a few long hours there and brought another 620 000 points back in form of crystals.

I had to sneak into my own room, as my little lizard was already sleeping soundly. I was so damn tired that I passed out immediately.

She woke me up the next day. We did our usual routine, but in the cafeteria, I was approached by one of Hatta's guys and asked to pay my friend a visit, so I did, leaving Ki'rai in the cafeteria.

He already waited for me, sitting behind his desk in the well-lighted office.

- I got notified that you walked naked through the city center, covered in blood. I thought you will come to talk to me about it. Did you kill them? Xuvi I mean.

- It's a long story, but basically, we don't have to worry about them, at least for now.

- Holy shit... Peter... Seriously? Did you massacre the entire race?

He was so shocked, that he had to stand up, digging fingers of both hands into his hair.

- I was contacted by The Great One. He told me they are preparing for a full assault on us. I tried to resolve it in a different manner, but there was no other option. Some of them are still alive. They were taken to a different place, where they will start over.

- What? This doesn't make any sense! Why they couldn't be just taken there in the first place? Why the massacre?

- Look... I had no other choice. It was us or them. I chose us. If you want to get angry with me because of that, then go ahead. I don't regret it.

- There was no reason for killing them, Peter...

- For fucks sake! Open your eyes! We are damn pieces in a game we don't even understand! Do you think I had a choice?! I didn't! So keep your preaching to yourself!

I left, slamming the door behind me so hard, it actually broke.

I was furious, but more on myself than on Hatta. There was no reason for the massacre, and I agreed with that. The Great One could resolve this peacefully, but they just chose to not do it, and I couldn't do anything about that.

I was angry and silent throughout the whole day. Ki'rai tried to cheer me up, but It only helped a little. This made her a little bit sad as we were parting our ways. Then I went to the ogre cave to continue the process of gathering points.

I let myself loose a bit to release the pent-up anger and frustration. When I finally returned to the city, I felt a bit better. I managed to collect 6 567 200 more points, getting again a bit closer to acquiring that manual.

The day came to an end with 16 533 390 points remaining on my account, and five class points.