Chapter 26- Preparations
"Hah! Hah!! Hah!!"
Suddenly, Rein opened his eyes wide as he yelled at the top of his lungs. Rising from the ground, he looked around him, shocked and ready as he summoned his sword. His body was seemingly alert, as if it sensed an enemy around it and immediately went into fight or flight mode.
That was something Rein had cultivated due to the nature of his job. He had to always be alert, even in his sleep, so he trained half of his brain to remain awake while the other half rests.
"Rein! Are you ok? What happened?"
Violet flinched when she heard him suddenly scream. Rising from her chair, she rushed toward him as she leaned down. Her eyes filled with worry. She had never seen Rein like that before in his life.
His body was completely covered in sweat, his face was pale, and he was panting audibly. The sheer look of terror in his eyes shook her to the core.
"..." Rein stared at her, still completely confused. But he slowly started calming down as he looked at his hands. 'Was that… a nightmare?' He asked himself.
He didn't understand what he saw at all, and it was certainly the first time he experienced a nightmare that vivid in his life. It felt so real and so raw that he had completely forgotten that he was dreaming.
"I'm fine…" He replied. "Just… A weird dream."
"Oh…" Violet raised her eyebrows. "What kind of dream?"
She knew Rein very well. This man doesn't get scared of anything, even when faced with imminent death. He was even fighting giant creatures for fun merely an hour ago. The fact that something terrified him like that made her even more curious what it was.
"It's nothing… Just a weird dream of me drowning in a black liquid." He replied as he grabbed his shirt and put it on.
"That sounds really awful, Rein." Violet said with a concerned look. "Does it mean anything?"
"I don't know. I have never had that nightmare before. It could just be due to stress." Rein replied as he stood up. 'It's probably nothing. Might be because of everything that just happened. It's weighing on my subconscious mind.'
Shaking the image off his head, Rein looked outside. The world was getting dark as the sun was setting, and the grey clouds covered the sky. The sound of battles has calmed down completely, and he didn't hear any gun sounds ringing anymore.
"Did anything happen?" Rein asked.
"No, thanks to you, the soldiers were able to get rid of the rest of the Undead. It seems the ones who awakened wanted to talk to you, but I wanted you to at least sleep for an hour before we move." Violet said.
"Mm, thanks. I definitely needed that. I feel much better now." Rein replied. Even though an hour was far from enough, Rein was able to recover some Life Essence and stamina. 'Since my regeneration is almost three times as fast as an average human, that does explain why I feel better now.'
"Ok, let's go talk to these soldiers," Rein said as he looked at Violet. The latter didn't reply as she kept staring back at him. "What's up?"
"Are you really ok?" She asked.
"... Yeah, it didn't really bother me. Just a nightmare." He replied.
However, for some reason, Violet couldn't get that look he had on his face off her mind. That wasn't the look of someone who experienced a bad dream… It was the look of someone who saw something absolutely horrifying. Something far too real to be merely a dream.
But, she eventually sighed and nodded her head. "Ok, if you say so."
Whether her gut feeling was right or not, she knew that Rein would never really tell her the truth. He was just stubborn.
With that, the two walked out of the tent. Soldiers walked around with flashlights, trying to settle into this new base.
They had expanded its size during the time Rein was absent, so it could cater to more people or potential survivors.
Walking to the General office, they found him with his subordinates.
"Oh! There you are. Miss Violet told me that you were resting. How are you feeling?"
"Certainly better. Where are the awakened soldiers?"
"I told them to get some rest, too. They were able to kill quite a few Undead. We have cleaned the entire area successfully."
"That's good to know. Call for them, I need to talk to them."
A few minutes later, the group came back. They all looked a bit stronger than before, and Rein could sense it, but it wasn't by much. Luckily, none of them died or suffered any serious injuries.
"Sir! You were right. We did get stronger killing those Undead. It is amazing!" One soldier said.
"I also received those runes you talked about."
Hearing that, Rein nodded his head. "Good, this is the start. But you did well. Now, for those runes…"
The young man explained those runes and how to use them in as much detail as he could. Then, he helped them learn those skills and gain those items.
Naturally, what they received wasn't anything special. Some abilities that buffed their physical strength or senses, and one soldier received an ability that made him able to rust iron upon touching it.
They weren't particularly strong, but they were useful enough to use in battle. Then, they checked their items, which turned out to be an axe, a bow and arrows, and a few swords.
"Your weapons are decent. But, do any of you know how to use them?"
No soldier raised their hand. So, Rein sighed. "Well, for now, try to get comfortable with them. You will find time to practice how to use them soon." Rein replied.
'They can't go out now since it's very dangerous.' He thought to himself.
"Thank you, sir!"
"You can go now. We will talk in the morning." He said. "Good job, men."
The soldiers then left to take care of their business. Even if they looked fine on the surface, they were exhausted mentally and physically. Not to mention that nobody has truly recovered from the shock of what happened today.
Just a single glance around, Rein could see the mood was still abysmally low. Almost all these soldiers had families, and they probably could guess that their families were either dead or in danger, and they couldn't do anything about it.
That was very taxing on the mind and made one unable to even think.
'Trying to save anyone would be good. The more people there are, the easier you can cultivate an army that could fight for you and do the dirty work.' Rein thought to himself. 'That is why I need to go out now, even if going out at night isn't optimal.'
"Are you ready to go out, Violet?" He asked.
"Yeah, wait, I need to bring some stuff with us."
"Hm?"
"We need the med kit and some supplies."
"We will need to find a convenience store and a pharmacy on the way. Don't bring too many things." Rein said coldly.
"Ok."
With that, Violet walked away, leaving Rein alone. As he looked around, checking his surroundings silently, he felt someone approaching him.
"I'm going with you," Alex said as he got close to Rein.
"This isn't an excursion, brother," Rein replied. "You could very much die."
"Don't tell me what I can do and I can't," Alex replied. "I will help Violet. She's my friend."
"I see… Well, if you say so."
'As much as he's annoying, he's definitely not bad. His arrows were on point.' Rein thought to himself as he gave Alex a side glance. 'He will be useful.'
"I want to go too!!"
Then, out of nowhere, Teo emerged as he stared at Rein timidly.
'... Are we being serious, right now?'