Arcane: The Runeseeker [An Arcane/ League of legends]

[Mrcheshire]

The view of the Zaun sky used to be the little light coming from the filtered through the smoke and ash that was generated in a tangle of pipes that were discharged from Piltover, but today those little rays of light were impossible to see. They were almost impossible to see with all the explosions that were occurring throughout the city. The piltovites were invading, their transport ships were moving freely carrying reinforcements to all fronts, we had lost the battle for airspace a few hours ago.


We were rebelling, we were fighting for the right to live and that was not something we could do according to our rulers.

"Do you think we can win this?"

"Well we were having a good run of good luck, at some point it would have to end, change will come friends, and we will have been part of it" I said in such a confident way that they even stopped feeling my hands shaking, the hope of the idea almost deafened the pain of the beam going through my body.

Four of us were under one of the many Zuanite buildings of gray and industrial architecture that had been demolished due to the war, all of us were about to die either from our wounds or from our Chemtech combat armor. We were nobody important we couldn't matter less in the course of this battle, for that very reason we had been given the armor, pieces of metal, and scrap metal that boosted our strength and agility in exchange for our health, we were disposable pieces that would die any way the war turned out.

But we were okay with this. We were simple street rats, we knew what our fate would be since we were little, but we had been given the option to change our end. The result was what we expected, but the smile on our faces was hard to take off.

"You don't have to talk to them anymore, looks like Lily and Mark left first before us" he wasn't in a good state either, with three metal rods going through his body.

"They always made a good couple..." My words could barely be uttered because of the blood escaping my lips.

"...Hey, I never apologized for what happened, I appreciate you, my friend..." His voice seemed to lose strength, as I watched the life in his eyes slowly slip away.

"...and I to you, we would have made it big..." Even though I knew no one was listening anymore, I still felt remorse for all the opportunities life had robbed them of, they had fought with all their might to get out of their destiny, but after hundreds of attempts, they learned their place.

A gentle breeze swirled around the rubble, the weight of the beam on my body had lightened and the force of the breeze increased until it was a gale, until I felt a figure at my back that seemed to lift all the debris from the place.

"It's all right, my dear child," she says, and I know without needing to see her who it is. All the orphaned children of Zaun knew of her, tales and stories of how she saw for us through the winds.

She squeezes my shoulder, then kneels and holds me in her arms very gently, it is a strange thing, I feel light and calm, just as every child of the Sump wished, drawing me into an embrace and lifting me to her, as the aches in my body were ceasing as we levitated on the desolate battlefield.

"It's going to be okay," she says.

Strands of her hair fall over my shoulders. It smells like the air after a long rain.

"I've failed them, I'm sorry, but this won't be the end of them," she says. My face is warm and wet and I don't know when I started crying, but it's a relief, as if the clouds are clearing, I hug her and she without hesitation reciprocates warmly and softly in the same way. telling me over and over that everything is okay, that she is here, and that things will get better.

"The winds will be in charge of taking you back pure soul, may your hopes drive changes in the destinies of the underprivileged, for you are now the child of the wind" I barely understood her words due to the confusion of everything happening. Her voice was majestic.

After leaving me in a clearer area, she rises again and glides to my side. For the first time, I see her in her entirety: a tall, ethereal figure that I would have assumed was a figment of my imagination had she not touched me. I notice her long, pointed ears. Her feet don't touch the ground. Her hair waving in the wind, even now that the wind had ceased. Her eyes were as blue as a larimar stone, provoking a cold feeling just by looking at her.

Being the last thing I watched, as I felt her lose the energy in my whole body and rise with the wind.

"Ughh" a desperate cry came from my body as soon as I came to my senses, there was still a whirlwind of emotions in me and I could not find an explanation for what had happened. She was not just a myth, I had met the lady of the wind. Jan'ahrem.

"Damian wake up, we are in trouble" Little did I understand, when another mystery was happening in front of my eyes, the darkness of the place and the little light that was coming through what seemed to be a shack. The bizarreness of the situation made my thoughts have no order as to what I should process first.

"This way" Said the figure, who picked me up and dragged me through a series of narrow alleys until I could recognize the main streets we were passing through. A plume of smoke was rising from the district. I was back in the zaun Sump; passersby were casting somber glances at them, but they didn't seem particularly concerned to see two figures running.

It was an area where only the lowest of the low gathered to seek survival, no one cared about those who lived there. The whole area was a heresy against the very concept of urban planning: just shacks that had sprung up around the plentiful "employment" provided by the Sump complex.

"We were by the prix area, we heard rumors that they had dumped quality scrap metal in the area," Lily said, but not the same one who had died a few minutes ago, but a Lily about 10 years younger.

"We thought at night we could avoid the gang rates but they caught Mark, we had arranged to meet by Seetower, Yutong is helping him escape but it's the Prix" Immediate memories assaulted my memory.

Ten years ago we'd had our first run of good luck, we'd gotten a place near the junkyard to sleep and were making enough income to have 2 meals a day. The plans had been simple, keep going until we could be old enough to enter a barony.

But we were trusting and greedy, we underestimated the speed of the rumors and the machinations behind them, and the Prix put iron shackles around our necks. Our first stolen dream is happening this very night. I don't know what is happening, I don't know if this is a dream, but I will not let it end the same way.

 

[Mrcheshire]

Instead of going directly into the junkyard, we made a detour through all the surrounding areas, we had planned from the beginning that we should study the area to avoid similar events, Mark and Yutong both now and in the past had chosen the worst route to escape, a building in ruins.

We hid behind the entrance of the narrow alley to study the building. Three of them seemed to be surrounding the building, not only had they been found but they were cornered.

"Follow me, we'll have to watch" I said, as I tapped Lily's shoulder, our signal to ask for a boost, and just as I asked. She prepared to propel me over the huts. It was a simple thing to climb, and after helping Lily up, we were both on the roofs of huts that with a simple gale would collapse, but the weight of a child and years of experience were our greatest advantage.

In the past, while exploring the Sumidero ruins, I had often stumbled over the area and my regret and guilt had always driven my mind to how I could have done better. In my mind I relived every exact moment of how it all happened, every mistake or possibility could help me prevent future mistakes that constantly happened to us as inexperienced kids without someone older to help us.

Still, I knew the plan I had come up with wasn't perfect, but this time I trusted my friends.

"What's the plan?"

"I'll have to go in, even if they catch us they have no use for two dead kids, they'll try to add them to their ranks of slaves, while we're inside you'll have to take down the pillar."

"What? They could all die." It was almost comforting to see her disapproving look again.

"I don't aspire to die in this place Lily, you know that."

"All right I'll go along with your plan." She said after a quick assessment, with a look of resolute confidence after doing so.

After a mutual nod, we both headed off to our corresponding tasks.

With danger all around me, my chest shrunk and I let Lily get lost in my sight. I took a few deep breaths to relax the tension. She will be safe. I don't have the luxury of worrying. But the thought of losing them again scared me like a few other things.

After deciding that there would be no one guarding this area of the tower, as I had assumed in the past, I climbed over the old scaffolding structures that surely had been made for reconstruction, but we had not yet entered a streak and it showed because, on the second wooden plank on which I leaned, it crumbled under my feet. I try to steady myself but I can't get a grip on the mossy rock wall. My foot slips between one of the rocky crevices and I stifle the instincts to let out a scream.

"Shit" a mumble was all I could afford, as I continued to climb despite the pain I felt in my leg.

The window latch gave way quickly, the passage of time had deprived me of any security it had previously provided. I pulled aside the heavy corroded curtain and revealed a room where the weapons had previously been stored. There were still some crumbling shelves that seemed to cover the door. Its interior looked less crumbling than I remembered it, with a few books still surviving and a few pieces of metal I could see.

"Weapons" I picked up a mace made of rusted iron with its wooden handle full of cracks and deformations. It was a pleasant surprise, the room had not yet been ransacked, but this was not the time to rummage.

I sharpened my hearing to distinguish the approaching sounds. There were two pairs of footsteps, one heavy and one limping, coming up the stairs.

They seemed to be heading for the escape exit we had planned through the cracks and collapsed parts of the tower, but as in the past they would be caught by the two guarding the area, I grabbed a couple more weapons and ran for the door. I barely even put up any resistance as the shelves crumbled as soon as I moved them, when just as I stepped out I saw a blow aimed directly at my face.

"Stop!" shouted Mark, as he could barely stand up.

"Shit Damian, you should have called it in, we almost had an emergency here."

"We should hide" I grabbed Mark's hand, Although I was glad to see them alive again and back to their boyish appearance, I could hear footsteps coming from below.

Whoever was coming had probably heard the commotion. The tower was wide and large with several hiding spots so we had set up this spot as an escape point.

"They are searching all over the place, we need to stick to the plan" Mark said, he had always been someone who didn't like to go off plan.

"They have guards guarding the rift, we underestimated the intelligence and their knowledge of the area, we will have to go with a new one" I told them as I prompted them to go back into the room.

"So, what's the plan?" muttered Mark under his breath as he could barely stand.

"We'll take down the tower."

"I like this new plan"

"Shut up you idiot" said Mark while hitting Yutong, with a look on his face of exasperation "We'll die, we can't do it without collapsing the pillar, we still need to get out of..."

"Exactly, Lily is taking care of that" I handed the pair of mace weapons to each of them, here in the sinkholes it wasn't common to have one, so they could defend themselves from any unforeseen.

"Don't worry, trust me, Mark I need you to find the farthest loophole on the east side, Yontu, you take down the west pillar I will go to the south" Seeing Mark's doubtful face, I placed my hand on his shoulder "Yell when you find the loophole, we will run to that area once it starts".

With all that said, and one Mark doubtful of my plans we parted ways and exited the room where we had hidden to accomplish our objectives, it was just the right time to see a group of three men coming up the stairs.

"Come and get me, you cowards!". I had to get everyone's attention so the others could accomplish their tasks.

Moving as fast as my injured leg would allow, my mind was divided between guiding him and dodging the grabs of the men chasing me. After advancing for a few minutes, but what seemed like hours to my body, I turned a corner where my target was, but a surprise blow was enough to knock me down. It had been waiting for me.

"Looks like we managed to catch a rat" Said the man who had hit me, seeing his face and the lack of one of his eyes reminded me of who we were dealing with, OneEyed Bastard.

I interlocked my arms and legs to kick with all my strength despite the pain, the bastard. I had put all my strength into my entire lower body and my vision became blurry. But my blow had succeeded, the man fell hard into the pillar knocking him down and falling with him.

Being a malnourished guy sucks.

He pushed his legs close to his chest and used another boost in his arms to stand up in one leap. As I secured my mace, I had accomplished my task, I just had to trust my friends and buy them enough time.

I felt the organs in my stomach tremble in resonance with things. A tremor echoing throughout the building and parts of the building falling seconds later marked the end of this conflict, the feeling of instability under everyone's feet was unmistakable and no one wanted to be left alone to beat up a rat. But in this plan, I had not taken One-Eyed Bastard into account.

I'd be glad if that bastard died now, otherwise I'd have to take care of him myself.

As I ran to the east side, I could see the bastards falling victim to the debris,

"Damian!" Mark's voice was an indication that I had made it, and my remaining strength was concentrated on running in the same direction, only to see the two of them inside the arrow slits.

"Are you sure nothing will happen to us here my friend?" said Yutong with a smile on his face, they both looked nervous but happy that everything seemed to have gone well.

"Believe in me, we'll be safe."

It was good to see their smiles again, but sadly it wasn't over yet.

 

[Mrcheshire]

Climbing back down along with the others, we climbed out of the into the filthy alleys we visualized from where we were, it had been quite a feat getting down after we made sure everything had stopped.

"You made it guys" sounded Lily's excited voice from between the alleys, along with her beastly charge toward Mark.

I would have to make sure that the couple had a success story in this life. But for now, I would have to deal with this problem that was coming our way.

"And in a big way, I'd say."

A pair of men emerged from the main street, carrying crossbows, difficult weapons for simple Zaunites to acquire. Behind them was the leader of the Prix gang. Robert prix.

A man with curly hair and a face full of scars. He wore his hair pulled back in a ponytail that created a messy look, but looked like he was trying to spruce it up with second-rate clothes from the noble piltovites, to anyone from the sinkhole they would be expensive and impressive clothes.

"Now tell me, why shouldn't I remove a nuisance that has caused me to lose money and men?"

"Only a coward would be afraid of boys" I said, with a provocative tone, I knew what was coming, he couldn't get upset no matter how I talked to him, so at least I would satisfy my ego.

"I like this guy, I'll teach them a lesson as a sign of my good mood."

His men, approached as they put aside their weapons, to start beating us, we tried to put up resistance, but Yutong was hit in the face. He was our strongest and biggest member, but he was easily knocked back a few meters. The rest of us didn't fare any better, but if there was one thing we rats were good at, it was resisting beatings.

"You see in that collapse, five men died, very valuable men, one of them being one of my most trusted men."

"He was a bastard" I said as I kept my body curled up, only for a stomp to reach my head even though my arms blocked most of it, I felt how they were about to fracture.

"You're right, but he was a useful bastard, it's not easy to find a man who does dirty things willingly" Robert ran his hand over his clothes, checking them for dust, and blew.

"They'll work for me, they just took over a good portion of my labor and that's not good for my business, they'll work until they pay me what they owe me."

he finished, grinning like a wolf.

"...We will" I said, while pretending that my own words seemed to bother me.

"Well, good luck boys" Robert snapped, and like trained dogs, his men stopped the beating they were providing us.

My plan was simple. to secure an umbrella for the storm that would be raging in the sinkhole in the next few days, The gang war over scrap metal rights.

Robert was a narcissist, he saw people based on their capabilities and how they could be useful to him, even going so far as to use bastards like One-eyed, we needed to prove that we would be useful pieces and even better, that we were not a danger to him.

In the past we had only been disposable pieces in the war of gangs that changed owners when the previous one died, rats and messengers, sometimes seen as sacks to get even for the tensions of the war.

After they left and we recovered from the pain enough to move, we circled the piles of rusted junk to look for a secondary entrance to our hideout. A sewage outfall located in the old housing developments in the area had been abandoned and no one would go near it with the danger of contamination, flakes of brown paint that once must have been red were flaking off the walls.

The stench of rot and waste permeated the air. No sound could be heard from inside.

"Isn't there anything we can do?" murmured Lily amid the uncomfortable silence. Unlike me, she , though not too well. Her face reflected a deep, hidden fury, though Irwyn could read that in her oldest friend's expression.

"Do what, kill them?" I replied with a hint of annoyance in my voice, "They're trained, they're older and more experienced."

"Fuck, I get it" Yutong lay down with the others as he wiped the blood from his face with one of Mark's few extra shirts. "But it's not fair to have been beaten to death, only to be their slaves."

"Please, at least use your clothes," Mark said "And there was never any justice here to begin with..."

"Calm down, I have a plan, I've heard rumors that a few years ago there were Noxian metal orders, but these were lost after a pirate attack, a few days ago, curious about what seemed to be a stupid myth, I stumbled upon a surprise in the steam drains."

"You're crazy even if what you say is true, we would die before we could enter that place" Mark was right, the name of steam drains had remained from the old days when it was used for simple restructuring vapors, but the high command decided to use a system that dealt efficiently with gases and now it is an area of toxic gases that could kill anyone with the slightest inhalation, people called it 'the gray'.

"I could make the necessary equipment to enter if we get everything we need" With that metal and the rest that would be there, not only could we make simple weapons, I could make a stable base for us, a power base that would secure our lives.

__________________________________________________________

Some would say that the sinkhole would be the garbage and waste of both cities, and they would not be wrong, but it is also the heart of Zaun, where most of the materials that were used for any construction of the Zaunites come from. So getting materials that will be used to build gas masks was something that could be done with ease if you find the right materials.

"I hope this pays off," I said to myself.

First, I needed to recycle the materials, something like pure silicone could only be found in the upper docks, but sometimes a few worn out sailor's gloves would fall down the channels, it would just have to be adapted with cuts and some basic sealing techniques like the use of acid, which filled the water channels at this level.

In the end, they resulted in rustic masks, which were full of scraps due to the combination of different materials, some of them even with lenses of different shades.

"Although working with acid again had been annoying."

I looked at the burns on my hands, I had forgotten the pain of acid burns, I had lost the sensitivity in them I guess it was because I was constantly exposed to those acids, it was a common thing of Zaunite engineers. Those who were lucky adapted and had high tolerance to acid and toxins, those who were not will die or have changes implemented to their bodies such as prosthetics or artificial respirators.

"Damian, are you here?" I heard Yutong's voice

"This way."

"Wow, I never doubted your abilities, but this is beyond what I expected" His look seemed impressed and excited by the result of my efforts.

"Yours is the black one, it was made with boots, so it will be the biggest one, let the others know they will have to come to talk to you about how they should be used and the care they should take" I said as I finished preparing the last of them and set my worn gloves aside.

"Because you didn't tell us about your abilities."

"It's not something I was hiding, it just hadn't been given the opportunity or the time to do so."

It wasn't a lie at all before I entered the orphanage where we met, I had been an engineer's errand boy for as long as I could remember, I had learned a few tricks but nothing that elaborate, that it wasn't until I was older that I was able to pick up the learning again.

This time I would make the most of any advantage. There were some plans for the sinkhole in these years and we would ride that wave of change.

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[Hyperionthetitan]

Look fun enough ,watched

 

[Mrcheshire]

I looked up at the rooftops once more and watched as the buildings appeared and disappeared with flickering lights. we had gotten some old dynamo flashlights, they were good enough for us to see around us, but not everything. There were shadows in the place that provided plenty of hiding places for any creature that could survive in this environment. We had been walking side by side until now, and I wanted to change that before we ran into any danger.

"Wait" I stopped walking and the other three followed my lead. "Let's change the walking order."

"Is that necessary?" asked Lily, wearing her trademark gas mask with green accents, they had been painted not only to differentiate us but because they were excited to have something unique and their own.

"Yes" I replied and pointed to the three of us. Yutong you will ride in front, not only are you the biggest, but your mace is in the best shape. While Mark and Lily will go in the middle, they will keep an eye out for anything that might come out on our sides. I'll be in the back.

Honestly, I could have been in the front, but I doubted my ability to participate in combat and give orders on the fly at the same time. Besides, I would have to make sure that every mask was working and that no one had any problems with it.

"We will be at a disadvantage if we get overconfident because of the hostile environment."

Always expect the worst.

We spent the next few minutes in silence as tension began to build in the air. The feeling that something could attack us at any moment had us on edge. This sewer was different from any we had known in the past, the spaces were wide and there were signs of more complex structures. But the abandonment seemed centuries old, its structure was also different from that of piltover.

The stories said it had been there since before the sinkhole existed, but it seemed to have been there before the city of Piltover itself had existed.

Howls and barks rang out en masse from the front, Yutong did not hesitate to intervene in the onslaught of the canines and with his first blow split the first one's head in two with a downward blow. He tried to follow up with another blow, but had to retreat when the other two jumped. I moved to his side and swiped at the legs of the creatures that seemed more reckless.



"Shit" I felt myself lose my balance due to avoiding a bite and was about to fall backward. If I fell backward and the creature got on top of me, they would be free to charge past to attack us in a roundabout way.

Fortunately, Lily's blow came just in time stopping the momentum and forcing them back along with their shrieks.

These guys looked like dogs that had mutated due to the toxins, it was easy to see because of the veins that looked like they were about to explode on their bodies; their dark skin and an obvious lack of useful eyes meant that they seemed to use their sense of smell to locate us. Pathetic creatures but they seemed desperate, almost suicidal. After we got coordinated it was easy to take them all out.

It had been around noon when we decided to stop, although we had not found what we were looking for, the area seemed full of useful junk, each time we continued advancing we could see more evidence of what seemed to have been a different city, at first it was just a few buildings that were difficult to tell their use, as we went on the buildings were more complex, the order seemed somewhat strange, but then we came to what were homes.

Several long, decrepit stone walkways could be seen connecting different levels of the city, creating a complex network high above them. All the structures seemed carved from the same stone as the cliffs, we could make out the remnants of furniture still in some of them, the faded colors of once vibrant murals, and the subtle signs of a city that was once full of life. The craftsmanship was exquisite, unlike anything he had ever seen, he had once gone up to see Piltover, and the impression had been that all the rumors of its beauty were dwarfed by comparison but it always seemed to him an artificial beauty, something that had been created by mold, but here you could see every detail meticulously reproduced to create a sense of authenticity that was almost unnerving.

"This is a little creepier than I expected this place to be" The absolute silence of the place added to the eerie atmosphere.

"It's very different from Zaun, they made a place underground and it looked like on purpose" Mark said as he ran his hand over one of the remains of the many murals "They loved their homes, what would make people like this decide to leave it all behind, I see no signs of battle".

It almost seemed as if all its inhabitants had disappeared, and my senses told me that it was time to return, not only did it seem that the Noxian metal was still far away, but we had little time left for the filters to run out, when I heard the rumors there had never been talking of something like this but from the beginning it was a rumor that was quickly silenced, I thought it had only been because those above had thrown their hands on it, but it seems that it was decided to silence everything because of this.

I could notice the nerves of the group once the truth came out about all of us, something big had happened in this place, something that four street rats would not be able to deal with. We just kept walking a few steps towards what looked like a central square of the place.

"We'll be back, We have enough material to sell and meet the week's quota, We'll stop collecting in the piles, But we'll show up occasionally. We shouldn't draw attention to ourselves, But I think we all agree that this place is our gold mine, if we handle it right we may be able to accomplish something."

My voice seemed to have broken the silence that reigned over the group, but I noticed that they didn't seem to be interested in anything I had said, almost as if something had taken over their attention so strongly that it wasn't worth it.

The maelstrom of stars spread out before us, a vista of lights scattered across the void like celestial paint. The sight of the night sky, those of us born in the sinkhole didn't have the luxury of ever having seen anything like it. I remained silent, not wanting to steal their moment, we all need a moment of calm and more with the things that await us. No, I was also mesmerized by the freedom of what they represented and my desires surfaced with every second I looked at them.

"Damian, thank you for this."

A hand rested on my shoulder, and I saw the illuminated smiles of all my friends, their eyes shining like I hadn't seen them in a long time since everything had changed, that glow that showed so much hope and enlightened us to continue on our path to becoming more than just rats.

"This is nothing my friend, it will be our Mark, I swear to you...No, I swear to all of you."
________________

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[Mrcheshire]

The weather in Zaun was hard to explain, its function was as complex as all the things that happened in the district, but the mornings were always inexplicably cold for us.

This morning the purifiers had barely begun to dissipate the clinging fog when I woke up, it had been three days since we went to the ruins, Lily had gotten a good cut of our loot, so we wouldn't have to worry about anything during the week, but we weren't doing anything.

The desire in our hearts had been awakened, we had decided that, we would not go again until we were ready, at least as far as we could go. So my task was to make armor, bite-resistant.

There were three different models I had in mind, a heavy and resistant model for our vanguard (Yutong). A light and agile armor for our rearguard (Lily), together with a slingshot, and for the others (Mary, Me) a resistant armor together with equipped pockets to carry luggage.

I had also planned to be able to put together a more comfortable prosthesis for Mark, like the one he would use in the future, but that would be something I would have to do for another time, I not only lacked the time, but also the necessary tools.

"You're okay, those burns seem to be getting worse" Lily said as she took my hands to point out the seriousness of the scars, and she was right, but I hadn't thought of a solution yet, in the future I had simply gotten used to it and gloves would just get in the way and degrade the result of the joints.

"I will be, it will just be a matter of me getting used to them" I told her as I moved my hands away from her, fearing that she might get burned due to the residue.

"You should take a break, there are still days to go before the agreed time."

We talked about going to the ruins again seven days after returning, and there were still another four days left. Although dangerous, it was obvious that this was the best chance we had so far. That's why Yutong and Mark were making sure we didn't draw attention to anyone.

"Don't worry, this is the last one, but I still can't rest, it's not only our team that needs to improve, but also our skills, the next few days we will have to practice what we need to practice to be a coordinated team."

We could not expect that we would have the same luck in dealing with our enemies there, I had made the mistake of believing that the biggest danger would be the gas, but it was not something I would repeat, there could be more than just dogs in there.

"For that, you must first know how a coordinated team works."

"I've heard some things about that, we'll be able to work out the kinks over time."

In the future there would be a professional team easily disarming dozens of gangs in Zaun, I had learned as much as I could from those masked ones and my thoughts had been to aspire for us to achieve something similar.

"You've changed, don't get me wrong, you've always been someone who tries his best and has used his brain, but before we moved according to the situation, we trusted that we would get through whatever happened by clinging to small chances. But now you are creating those chances for all of us. Thank you, Damian."

Of all of us, it had always been Lily who had the best eye, she was a perceptive girl and attentive to her surroundings with a lot of insight even in the dumps, she avoided weak groups and joined ours at the most opportune moment, almost as if she had been waiting for the moment. That's why we always left the group business to her.

"We'll set up a company Lily."

"WHAT?!" The surprise was more than evident on her face.

"We will create a successful business, between all of us and you will be the one in charge of managing everything, while Mark will be by your side keeping all the accounts" Lily's skills were wasted with simple barters or contracts, she could do better, she just lacked the necessary support.

After what seemed like a whirlwind of emotions, from anger, surprise, and finally joy "...Thank you, Damian."

_____________________________________________

The sound of a small body falling to the ground, my body. I looked up and saw Yutong a short distance in front of me, with a smirk on his lips, whenever there were physical activities he was the happiest boy in the world.

I looked across the field, to see Mark, looking worse than me, looming over him was Lily, with a club in her hands. She was the one who was most insistent on Mark's need to increase his athletic abilities.

Lily didn't wait for Mark to move. She raised her makeshift club. I almost felt the blow to his abdomen. But I had been too focused on that side to take a similar one from Yutong to my head.

Thinking about the situation I was in, I calculated the distance I was from my club and realized I had no time to pick it up. There was only one thing to do, so, without slowing down, I lowered my shoulder and lunged at it, with all my might.

As I hit, I felt a loud crack in my right shoulder and saw stars. It sounded like I had knocked the wind out of Yutong, but when I couldn't breathe, I realized that no, it was me who had been stunned. I found myself falling to the ground with a thud, next to Mark's body.

"You're too thin for a load."

"I know" was all I could think to say, and I said it as a hiss. I writhed on the floor trying to catch my breath. Incredibly, I felt the sensation of the cold, slippery knob brushing against the fingertips of my left hand. I gripped the handle of my club.

Yutong was surprised to be hit and threw a direct blow hoping to regain the initiative, but I managed to raise the club just in time to protect myself, then charged at me. I tried to brace myself and let go of mine knowing it would do no good. I think he hit me in the face with his fist because it was the only thing I remember seeing after I lost consciousness.

I lay there, my whole body aching, even in the future my body would not improve much, the malnutrition and scars had left little strength in this body. Little by little, I was recovering some of my strength and energy, until I felt hands on me and I realized that Mark was helping me to sit up. He said something to me, but I couldn't hear what he was saying.

We walked silently, both of us leaning on our shoulders, towards our hiding place. We were the weakest of the group and had a feeling of camaraderie in the face of the monsters who called themselves our friends.

The silence between the two of us continued, as we went through the routines of the night, such as lighting the campfire and preparing the food.

"We must consume twice as many calories to get out of the current malnutrition we are in" Mark said, with a determined look on his face.

"I've devised some plans to create a support so you can move around more easily."

I replied, knowing what he was referring to, as I was also filled with similar thoughts.

"We'll get out of this Damian" Mark said, as he looked to the other side of the hideout where the one Mark was determined to bludgeon was.

"That's right Mark, soon they will be the ones on the floor "I said as the image played in my head and a smile played on my lips.

When the flames went out we were still discussing plans and alternatives on how we could become strong and once we were strong, how we would make the idiots swallow dirt, so we could defeat the biggest obstacle we had ever experienced in our lives.

"Shut up you idiots."
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[Mrcheshire]

I double-checked the air filters, making sure there were no faults or errors in the luggage. We had prepared as much as possible for this excursion, hoping to map the area. We had all decided on roles based on our abilities.

"It will be fine... "I muttered to myself.

I looked around and saw Yutong doing the same as me. He was a responsible guy despite his attitude, he takes being the team's shield with great importance and knows how much we depend on him. A big pressure on his men but unfortunately necessary. And then there was Lily. She was calm and collected, she had customized her armor again with her green and black colors, she said they were good luck, which seemed to work because of the confidence it gave her. Honestly, I was afraid of what would happen, but it was good to feel confident again because of my friends.

We quickly trained everything we needed to be a functional group. Nothing complicated, following commands and necessary combat positions was the only thing we could accomplish with so little time. We had also decided to go out at the slightest unexpected event, so we had prepared some countermeasures to help with that.

We all felt as prepared as we could when we felt the gas on our faces, we waited at the entrance to make sure of everything possible.

"We'll have six hours for oxygen, Yutong, you'll go in front, along with Lily, I'll cover the backs while Mark will be mapping."

"What if we fill our bags early?" Mark's concern could be heard in his voice, he was the one who was least comfortable with the idea of going in.

"We'll leave them on the way to pick them up on the way back. Reconnoitering the area is our top priority."

I watched as he nodded in response and clutched his piece of charcoal in his hands again.

I turn to Yutong and see him raise his mace and step forward to adjust his new shield. He had done his best with the junk he had found,

"Do you need help with that? It's the first time you'll be using it so it might be a little annoying the extra weight."

"Trust me, besides it's my only task in the group, I can't let you guys down on this" It's the only answer he gives before stepping forward and moving towards the gas.

We follow the same path as last time, this time making sure to check all areas and buildings, securing what could be sold, and keeping our weapons primed and ready. However, we hadn't faced any difficult combat besides a few packs of look-alike dogs, which we had dealt with easily.

"What the hell are those things?" Mark's voice snapped me out of my thoughts, as he pointed to a wall. I didn't know it, but I recognized it immediately.

"Light blisters. Don't worry" clap " They're harmless." I turned away from the wall that lit up at the applause and continued to concentrate on our backs. There were ducts all over the ruins that the dogs seemed to be moving through.

As we rounded the corner, we saw the square where we decided to turn back in the distance, stone buildings covered in blue and orange paint. At least a kilometer from the settlement seemed to use the same colors. I turned to focus on the roads in front of us and noticed how each road seemed to use different colors, I almost seemed to see the order of everything when the city was in its full splendor.

I raised my hand to signal for us to stop, as I thought about which road we should take.

"They seem to use a color system to define and organize their streets."

"Information that won't do us any good, some have fallen over time and to be guided by something like that will only confuse us" Mark said as he took his hand away from the paper and stopped to look around and then continued making the map.

"But we'll use it for the map, it will help us get familiar with the area." I pointed to the different directions we could go. "This looks bigger than we thought and although we could use a system of our own."

After we all agreed and chose one of the routes that still had the paint on its walls, things got complicated quickly, although I expected that. We only encountered three more groups of dogs, which we could easily dispatch now that we had a fully effective routine. But that was the easy part. No, the complication came after a few minutes. The confidence of dealing with all the problems so far had dulled my senses, when a rumbling sound, along with the crashing of walls brought into view a creature I had never seen before.

It had a crustacean appearance, with two arms and pincers, six legs, and a head. Although that head was difficult to separate from its body. It seemed to have a large purple lining and we probably wouldn't be able to hurt it with simple blows.

My mind felt sluggish due to the surprise and the unexpectedness of the situation, the guilt that this had happened also did not allow my body to avoid the pincer that seemed to go straight to my abdomen. The momentum and the lack of preparation pushed me to the ground after a few meters.

-Fortunately, it didn't go all the way through the armor," I thought as I touched my abdomen, checking my wounds. I had created the armor to resist specific cuts and blows, with the result that it had reduced the maximum damage, but it only protects you to a certain extent. Therefore, I could still see some of my blood on my hands and feel the sting of the gas interacting with my wounds.

I tightened my grip on my knife, leaning around the corner of the rock behind which I had taken cover. as I sprayed water and bandaged my wounds. Lily and Yutong had completely cleared their path into space, and quickly established a safe perimeter of combat, while Mark seemed to be replacing the rear guard with the slingshot.

"Damian, are you okay?" yells Lily with her knife pointed as she keeps her sights on the creature. Which seemed to back off due to Yurong's continued intimidations, or because it saw no opportunity to finish us off easily. I hoped it was the former, it wouldn't be easy to deal with an intelligent creature.

"All right, it was just a glancing blow" Mark walks over to where I had slid to cover and offers me a hand, helping me to my feet.

"What the hell was that thing?" Lily said, as she checked my wounds and made sure she had bandaged them properly.

"It doesn't look familiar to me either, but its pincers are no joke, without my armor, I could have easily died."

"I've heard tales of them when I was at the docks, but I thought they were only at sea" Mark said, his voice sharp as he looked at the scary place he had come from, before attacking us. It looked like he had been waiting in the collapsed buildings for his next prey to pass by.

"What the hell are they doing here?" from Mark and Yutong's reaction it seemed obvious they knew about it, I had heard stories about the dangers of the sea too, but Mark and Yutong had grown up on the docks of Zaun, I had met the duo of a tall guy and a slightly funny lame guy, so I had decided to join them. Kids' stupidities for which I would never regret.

"They are Karkinos, they say they can reach up to eight meters, so this one was just a hatchling, sailors say their mother usually leaves dozens on the coasts, where they can find food and compete with their siblings."

"You're saying that these are just their offspring and that there could be more of them all over this place."

I could almost feel the danger of this place rising exponentially, with giant crabs that had the intelligence of a predator. We could listen intently as the whole place seemed to wake up with heavy footsteps.


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Sorry for the delay, I'm recovering my relationship and I didn't have time to write Xd. Today I'll post two chapters, sorry for the delay.
Remember there are 15+ caps ahead in patreon.com/MrCheshire