He rose from the bed, and walking over to the window, flung it open; all his joy from the rapid growth had long since vanished, and his thoughts began to return to that moment again. His fingers gripped the window frame with such force that the wood creaked pitifully.
— Gedo and Canoe… — Kopii hissed, squeezing the frame even tighter. He remembered every word that had flown out of their filthy mouths, he remembered their disgusting expressions as they tormented him, and with what pleasure they had done it. He remembered his own despair, how he had begged for death.
And the more he remembered, the stronger his hatred and fury blazed.
CRACK.
The frame could not withstand such pressure, and cracks ran across it. This made Kopii surface from his thoughts about them.
— Oh… — Kopii exhaled, realizing that he needed to calm down, to drive these thoughts away, so as not to do something foolish. He released his hand, looked at his palm, covered with splinters, and pulled them out one by one; his anger slowly began to leave him. Casting one last glance at the noisy city, he closed the window and sank onto the bed.
– I need to calm down.
– I need to calm down.
Like a mantra, Kopii repeated. After several minutes of struggling with himself, his mind cleared. He began to reason, weighing all the "pros" and "cons." One thing became clear: taking revenge would not be easy, but he had a significant advantage – they surely believed him dead. Kopii leaned back onto the pillow, fixing his gaze on the ceiling. After lying like that for several minutes, he realized that he could not prove their betrayal, so that the guild would punish them; after all, everything that happens in the dungeon stays there, beyond anyone's control.
As he had thought, they had seen him only as a tool and nothing more. But he could not even have imagined that they would do such a thing to him.
After much deliberation, Kopii decided to postpone his revenge. He had more important matters than wasting time on people like them. To take revenge, he would have to either wait for their descent into the dungeon and attack, or hunt them in the city, learn their habits, and make them pay for all they had done, but that would require a lot of time. Yet Kopii did not want to spend precious time on it. He needed to become stronger, so that such a situation would never happen again. But if by chance they crossed paths in the dungeon, he would not hesitate.
Kopii got up from the bed. Further idleness would only slow his progress and drag him into depression. Rest is important for growth, but the day had already been wasted; it was time to act. He already had plenty to do. All his equipment had been left in the dungeon, so he needed to buy new gear. He had no money as it was; his hatred for Gedo and Canoe grew even stronger.
The most important thing now was new equipment. If Gedo and Canoe saw him, they would not be able to do anything to him, and he – to them. For now. Of course, unless they met in the dungeon.
Kopii left his room, went downstairs, asked Naaza for money, and, exiting the "Blue Pharmacy," headed to the guild to buy a bow and everything necessary. The road to the guild was calm. Entering, Kopii decided to talk to his advisor. Finding her did not take him long.
— Hi, Rose. – Approaching her and waving his hand.
She turned and looked into his eyes.
— Hello. — She said distantly. Before Kopii could speak, she preempted him, not giving him a chance to open his mouth.
— How is your descent into the dungeon going?
— Everything is fine, I reached the 10th floor and am not going deeper for now.
— That is a very sensible decision, Kopii. There is no need to rush; you must soberly assess your strength. I noticed that today you are alone, without your party.
— Yes, I left it.
— That is a very good idea; it is better to have nothing in common with that familia. I recommend that you do not descend below the sixth floor. It is difficult for a beginner to handle a horde of killer ants.
At the mention of ants, his body involuntarily tensed; this did not escape Rose's attentive eyes, but she said nothing on the matter. She considered it a good sign if the mere mention of them made him involuntarily tense. Kopii was still young and had his whole life ahead of him. If one day, because of fear, he did not descend into the dungeon, that would only be for the better.
– Yes, perhaps I agree with you. – He agreed, but tense notes could be heard in his voice.
– Since you are alone again, I hope you understand that you must not descend deep. It could be dangerous. Do you understand that?
– Of course.
– So what are your further plans? Will you find a new party?
Kopii did not intend to look for a new party, but he knew that she would not be pleased, so he would have to lie, even if he did not want to.
– Yes. Well, I won't take up any more of your time. Bye.
He wanted to end this conversation as quickly as possible; he had wanted to ask her advice, but advice could wait; nothing terrible.
— Goodbye, Kopii. – She said, as always, in a detached voice, returning to her work.
Soon he bought everything necessary: a bow and arrows; he did not have enough money for armor. Exiting the guild, he wandered aimlessly through the streets. Because he did not know how else to entertain himself.
Miach watched as Kopii headed to the guild. He watched until the boy's silhouette dissolved into the crowd. Then he went down to Naaza to talk about Kopii's rapid growth.
— You are working diligently as always.
Naaza raised an irritated gaze at him.
«What? Why is she looking at me like that? I haven't even managed to say anything.»
– If you didn't give away potions for free, I wouldn't have to work so hard.
– Well, you know, that's...
He fell silent when he caught Naaza's gaze, full of irritation and something else he could not understand.
– Ahem, ahem, well, that's not what I came to talk about. I wanted to talk about Kopii.
– About what happened yesterday.
– What, no, not about that.
Naaza's eyes narrowed to slits; she rarely saw Miach so serious.
– Then about what?
– Today I updated his stats, and…
– And. – She began to grow annoyed with his manner; he was taking too long to speak. Even when serious, he remained the same Miach.
– He managed to improve since the last time, twofold.
– Twofold! – Naaza was surprised, not believing what she had heard.
She had always known that Kopii was special; she had understood it when she taught him archery, at which point he was already almost at her level. This could not but gladden her, but even so, she was a little envious, though with time that feeling had faded. And now, hearing this news from her god, she understood that Kopii was even more unique than she had thought.
– Yes, in two weeks his stats had doubled. Do you understand what that means?
She began to understand what her god was saying. Namely, that to level up, one must always push beyond one's limits, fight enemies stronger than oneself.
– Yes, I understand.
– …
– …
The room fell into silence; each was thinking about their own, until Miach opened his mouth.
– I calculated it, and I realized that at this rate, he could reach the second level in just a month.
– That fast? – She could not help but be surprised once more.
– Yes, it is fast; the main thing is that he handles the attention from the whole city afterward. And most importantly, that he stays alive.
Naaza merely nodded at Miach's words, and they both sank back into their thoughts.
After talking with Naaza a little more, Miach went outside. No sooner had he gone far than girls surrounded him. Miach laughed, completely forgetting what he had been thinking about.
Returning to the "Blue Pharmacy," Kopii noticed the familiar scene: girls had surrounded Miach.
«He's going to give away potions for free again.» — Kopii thought, remembering that he had not had enough money for armor. Casting one last glance at Miach, he went inside, heading straight to his room.
«It must have been a powerful healer or a mage wielding healing magic, or perhaps a healing skill. What were they doing on such a low floor? Maybe they were heading up? Or was it a beginner? They must know me, otherwise how did they know I was from the Miach Familia?»
And the main question that tormented him.
«Who are they?»
The questions kept growing, but there were no answers. The more he thought, the more tangled he became in his ignorance.