“I’m sorry if I’m being rude but how did you get those scars, Jude?”

Gorou was blunt but I don’t mind it. I’m sure he was just genuinely curious about my scars, who wouldn’t be. I fiddle with the materials as I could feel my body drip down in cold sweat. I roll various fangs, claws, and pincers in the hyena’s fur as I tie it off with the rat tails. 

“T-these scars are from a long time ago. I was struck by lightning while camping with my family.”

I pluck the hairs of the hyena one by one and at some point, there was a large bald patch. I look at Gorou and the others as I could feel the urge to puke come up. Their eyes were so frightening right now, even though they’re my friends and comrades. Maybe sensing my anxiety, Gorou replied with a big grin on his face.

“Haha, I guess I wasn’t the only unlucky one in our group.”

Gorou turns his back towards me as he lifts up his shirt. On the lower half of his back were scars similar to mine, they were burn marks. 

“I’m sorry.”

“What are you apologizing for, Jude? I was rude for asking about your scars in the first place. And don’t worry about these old scars, they don’t change who I am and neither does yours. You’ll always be Jude with or without those scars.”

“Yeah, those scars don’t bother us.”

“Our feelings for you won’t change for you just because of your scars, Jude.”

“I’ve only known you for a few weeks and I don’t know what you’ve been through, but I know that you’re a nice guy, Jude.”

“I-I…thank you.”

Gorou, Jill, Mako, Rachel, William, and Gareth all gave me words of comfort that warmed my heart. Even though CZ and Ken didn’t say anything, they showed it through other means. CZ gave me a few slices of meat from her plate for dinner and Ken took the initiative to repair my sword. 

Maybe I was just being self-conscious. Even when I showed them my scars, their attitudes towards me hadn’t changed at all like everyone else. So many people have treated me differently once they saw the scars that I had gotten used to them pitying or showing disgust towards me. Everyone here is so kind.

“Hahaha, come on, Jude. There’s no need to cry over this.”

“Stop it Gorou, you’re being insensitive.”

“Oww, don’t hit me, Jill.”

The tears wouldn’t stop coming out but these weren’t tears of sadness. I was just so happy that there were others who have accepted me. Mako’s soft warm hands wiped away my tears and I wished that time could stop right here. This was the happiest moment in my life.

“See Jude, no one here would be grossed out or disgusted by your scars so stop holding yourself back. Didn’t you promise Tigurka that you would become the most selfish hero? Stop being so reserved and be more assertive.”

“Thanks, Fifi.”

I guess Fifi saw straight through me. I’ve been trying to live a selfish life but even then, I’ve been holding a lot back. I’m going to change, even if its one step at a time. 

“Here, I’ve repaired your sword.”

“Thanks, Ken. Can we talk for a bit?”

The others were still enjoying dinner by the campfire so I take Ken towards the other side of the room. I’ve been curious about why he’s been so hostile against me so I decided to ask him directly.

“Have I done something wrong against you? Why are you so hostile against me?”

“What!? I-I…”

Ken tussled his red hair as he tried to come up with the words to say but in the end, he just decided to speak his mind.

“I’m going to be blunt. You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Then why are you so angry whenever you talk to me?”

“Haah, to be honest, I don’t even know anymore. In the beginning, I didn’t like you because you didn’t join in that sparring match. I thought you were some hoity-toity prick like those from other Units who saw it beneath them to participate. I thought you were weaker than me but from the stories Gorou and Jill have told me, you seemed incredibly strong. Maybe I couldn’t handle the idea of you being stronger than me that it turned into anger towards you. I couldn’t believe it back then but I can see that you really are strong.”

I see, did I really seem that way? Maybe this could have all been resolved if I just talked things out with Ken. I never did take the initiative to speak to him.

“Sorry for being a dick, I’ll keep my distance and stop bothering you.”

“Wait, that’s not what I wanted.”

Ken turned away but I stopped him. If I don’t do this then I don’t think I would ever truly be able to grow as a selfish hero. Like Justina, I stretch my right arm out and clearly state my intentions.

“Let’s be friends!”

“What?”

Ken was shocked at my proposal and even I had hesitated. But if I didn’t take the initiative now, then when would I.

“Hahaha, what an idiotic thing to talk about friendship at our age.”

“How old are you?”

“18.”

“I’m 19 and I don’t see a problem talking about friendship.”

“Hmph, just because you’re a little bit older than me doesn’t mean anything. In the end we’ll still be rivals.”

Although Ken said that, he still shook my hand. I didn’t really know what he meant by rivals but I’m glad that any hard feelings between us were washed away. Now that I have settled things with Ken, I’ll settle things with Karla when we get back to Hope City. Just like with Ken, I haven’t really been getting myself involved in Karla’s even though I told her to live for me. I-I guess I’ve really been indecisive on how I should handle Karla.

We head back towards the others as I gather my resolve to be more assertive. We returned to our dinner which consisted of pieces of ham and dried rations. We’ve been exploring for most of the day so it was already 9:00 pm.

“Hehe, why are you blushing, Ken? What did you talk about with Jude?”

“S-shut up, Rachel. You don’t need to know.”

“Hahaha, why are you acting so cute. You’re making me even more curious.”

The atmosphere had livened up in the room. The stress from witnessing death and being lost in a dungeon was being washed away. It got later into the night as we began to fall asleep. The days ahead were going to be long so we had to get as much rest as we could.

……

“We’ll head on over and check the area where we had met that lizardman. I feel like we’re getting closer to finding Unit I’s members.”

We grab our gear and follow the path that led to where we fought the lizardman yesterday. I’m still amazed to see the dungeon repairing the grounds and walls after that battle. It was a surprise at first to see the dirt walls and ground fixing itself, but we’ve gotten used to seeing it happen. Fifi explained that the dungeon was able to repair itself because it was constantly absorbing mana from the world. This was also the reason why monsters in a dungeon were more likely to contain mana crystals.

“CZ says there’s a gate up ahead and it looks like there’s a large lizardman guarding it.”

We continue down the path and was able to see what CZ was talking about. There was a large stone gate but an even a larger lizardman guarding the gate. The lizardman we’ve seen were only around 6-7 feet tall but this one was at least 8 feet tall.

Its body was large and muscular with scars all over its body. Even without wearing armor to protect itself, I can tell it would be hard to pierce through the front side of the lizardman, which is their weak point. Trying to attack it from the back would be even more foolish. The lizardman’s dark red scales were harder and thicker than any other lizardmen we’ve seen.

“Be careful Jude, it’s spotted us already.”

With Fifi’s warning, I look at the lizardman and our eyes made contact. It stood up and held a greatsword in its hand. Looking at the white greatsword, it seemed to resemble a stone slab more than anything. Its edge was jagged like it had been ripped out of the ground and had a handle attached to it. It just stared at us, not showing any signs of attacking.

“It’s challenging us.”

Gorou spoke and I could see that a fire was lit up inside of him. His eyes were bursting with the desire to fight. I’ve never seen him so excited before.

“Let’s fight. If it’s guarding that gate then there must be something important behind it. It could even be where we can find Unit I.”

Under William’s command, we head out of the passage and into the area where the red-scaled lizardman was at. It waited in the middle of the room as it gave us time to get ourselves ready. We drop our luggage to the side and I hand everyone some mana crystals. I didn’t have time to explain it to William, Gareth, Ken, Rachel, or CZ, but I told them to crush the crystal if they ever felt like they were on the verge of passing out. Even if some of them didn’t use mana, the mana crystal will at least give them a surge of energy to stay in the fight.

“Don’t let your guard down for even a second, Jude. And don’t hesitate to use all of your power.”

This is the second time I’ve heard Fifi sound so serious and the first time was when we fought against that demon in Ostempal. The red-scaled lizardman must be someone of that caliber to make her so serious. I warn the others as we all stopped restricting ourselves to a single type of magic.

In the arena-liked room, the red-scaled lizardman stared at us as it grasped its greatsword with both hands. Seeing that we were ready, it charged at us with incredible speed. Its figure was blurry as it approached Gorou but we were also ready to deal with him. Like we’ve done many times in the past, CZ’s eyeball was thrown into the air and caught the red-scaled lizardman’s attention. There was a slight pause in his movement but he wasn’t stunned. 

“AAAHHHHHH!!!!”

“W-what’s wrong, CZ!?”

CZ roared in pain as she clutched her eyes. The tactic we have used countless of times against other monsters had failed. We were caught off guard and the red-scaled lizardman didn’t hesitate to take advantage of that. In an instant, it stood in front of Gorou and brought his greatsword down against Gorou’s shield. Jill, Mako, and I tried to cast magic but we were too slow.

“Water Veil. Healing Springs”

Fifi simultaneously cast two spells which covered Gorou in a sphere of water. The greatsword cuts through the sphere and slashed at Gorou’s shield. The harsh sound of metal being grinded against echoed throughout the area. Sparks flew off of Gorou’s shield and I could even see chunks of metal flying away. Luckily the sparks were washed away by Fifi’s magic and it began to heal Gorou.

“Damn!!!”

Gorou screamed as he prepared himself to tank another attack. We quickly gathered our senses back as we began attacking the red-scaled lizardman. Rachel tended to CZ as William and Gareth were shooting at the lizardman with there special bullets. Noticing that the bullets were actually doing damage to him, the red-scaled lizardman backed off while using his greatsword as a shield.

No, he wasn’t retreating. Realizing at the same time as I did, Jill created an earth wall to block William and Gareth. The red-scaled lizardman had moved backed before using his tail to change his trajectory. He quickly circled around towards William and Gareth with incredible speed. The earth walls were erected in time but it wasn’t an obstacle for the red-scaled lizardman’s greatsword. The walls were sliced into pieces but we were able to buy enough time for Fifi and Mako to use their magic.

“Shred him to pieces, Tornado!”

“As fierce and strong as a heavy downpour, pierce through my enemy. Rain of Swords!”

The red-scaled lizardman was suspended in the air by Fifi’s tornado and swords made out of wind magic pierced into the tornado to stab at the red-scaled lizardman. But it didn’t take long for him to escape, with a slash of his greatsword the magic was dispelled. There were small cuts on his body that was bleeding but no serious damage.

“Blind my enemy, Shining Flare.

I shoot my magic in the air to temporarily blind the red-scaled lizardman as Jill creates three large pillars that attack the enemy. Even when blinded, the red-scaled lizardman was still able to cut down two of them as the third one slightly grazed his right leg.

“EXPLODE!!!”

The remaining earth pillar explodes right next to the red-scaled lizardman and sent him flying. His agile body spun through the air and landed perfectly on the ground, but his right leg was severely injured. We had accomplished our goal of taking away his speed. In the brief moment when the red-scaled lizardman had retreated, we all agreed that we should take out his legs so he couldn’t use his speed against us.

“Is CZ fine?”

“No, she passed out from the pain.”

“It’s fine, we need your help in this battle.”

The red-scaled lizardman was just standing there and didn’t seem like it was going to approach us. Everyone that used up their mana began crushing the mana crystals. It didn’t recover much but it was better than nothing. Maybe it noticing that we were recovering our strength, the red-scaled lizardman took action. His throat was strangely bloated as I could feel the mana in the air being sucked towards him.

“Stop him!!!”

Fifi screamed as I began to unload my BlowBack bullets towards the red-scaled lizardman. I rarely used BlowBack bullets because it wasn’t convenient since I fight upfront and personal. I had a lot of ammo leftover so I began to unload them into the red-scaled lizardman. Even if it didn’t deal much damage, it has range so I continue to shoot them to interrupt the red-scaled lizardman’s attack. William, Gareth, Rachel, and Mako shoot their guns at the red-scaled lizardman but most of them were blocked by his greatsword. If only I had time to create an Exploding Air Bullet.

“Shit, we’re too late. Great Water Veil.”

The red-scaled lizardman opens his mouth and scorching flames approach us. Mako, Jill, and I continuously use earth walls to try to block the path of the flames but it wasn’t able to withstand the flames. Even crushing all of my mana crystals didn’t help slow down the flames.

Seeing that the situation was getting dangerous, Gorou grabs his shield from Ken who was repairing it. Gorou stood in front of all of us and was our last line of defense besides Fifi’s Water Veil.

“I’ll help.”

Rachel placed her hands on Gorou’s back as she began to inject him with energy. Looking around, William, CZ, Gareth, and Mako had the energy sucked out of them. William and CZ have passed out while Mako and Gareth were barely holding on.

“Earth Armor.”

Crushing the last of her mana crystals, Jill covered Gorou and Rachel in armor made of earth. I crush my remaining crystals too as I try as fast as possible to absorb the mana. The situation was dire and I needed to find a way we could escape out of this. Fifi was trying her best to subdue the flames with her water magic but the flames were too hot.

Gorou braced himself as the flames made an impact with his shield. Immediately the shield and his earth armor became red hot. My sweat was already evaporating from where I was at so I could only imagine how hot it must be for Gorou and Rachel. Maybe it was just seconds but it felt like an eternity as I watched Gorou and Rachel protect all of us from the flames.

Finally, the flames dissipated and the earth armor around Gorou and Rachel shattered into ashes. Looking at Gorou and Rachel, their skin was dry and peeling off of their bodies but quickly recovered as Gorou continued to use healing magic. Fifi assisted and also began healing them but Rachel had already passed out and Gorou was breathing roughly.

Looking at the red-scaled lizardman, he was slowly approaching us with his greatsword in hand. Fifi and I use whatever mana we had left as we attacked him but with only the two of us, it wasn’t much. Gareth even had to resort to using regular bullets which didn’t do any damage to the red-scaled lizardman. He stood in front of Gorou as he raised his greatsword in the air. ‘If I don’t do anything, we’re all going to die.’ Just as I got up and ran towards the red-scaled lizardman, Gareth shouted towards Ken.

“Do it now, Ken!!!”

Suddenly the red-scaled lizardman coughed up blood and the wounds on his chest began to profusely bleed. I didn’t know what Ken did but it had severely injured the red-scaled lizardman and stopped him midswing. Seeing this as the perfect opportunity, I ran towards the red-scaled lizardman and slashed at the wrist holding the sword. It was incredibly hard and I wasn’t able to cut through it but it was enough.

His grip loosened on the greatsword and I used my last mana to use Fire Blast to send the greatsword flying away. As soon as that happened, I could feel the red-scaled lizardman punch my defenseless back with his other fist.

“It’s up to you now, Gorou!!!!”