28 - The Bond Is Broken - Ocien

 

I cultivated like there was no tomorrow. All the time I was alone at home, I was used to the cultivation routine for weeks.

I woke up in the morning, took a shower, had breakfast with Reina and took her to the hospital, we said goodbye and I went back to cultivate.

In twenty-five days I reached 9 Stars.

I took her out to dinner and it was different from the other times I celebrated with her. Dinner was simple, but of high quality.

Forty days later I reached the barrier of the 2nd Circle.

Until then I hadn't encountered any obstacles, I simply cultivated normally. But here, I needed four days to break through the barrier

It was at that moment that everything changed.

I woke up in the morning and found the coffee ready, but no sign of Reina.

I went to the hospital to try to find her, but Miquela informed me that Reina was studying and could not be disturbed.

I returned home reluctantly, not wanting to cause a scene.

I waited until midnight for her to arrive.

Reina entered the house, waved at me and went straight to her bedroom.

The next day the same thing happened.

Coffee ready, house empty. At midnight she entered the house and went straight to her room without exchanging a word with me.

This repeated for a week. Until I understood the message.

After confirming that I was home alone again, I punched the wall of the house with all my strength.

I opened a hole in my room directly to the backyard.

After taking a deep breath and managing to get my head straight, I went to the guild and registered.

I spent two weeks doing collection missions until a team invited me to go on a hunt.

It was a big team, there were ten of us in total. The captain was a 3-Star Mage named Alvarez. The other members were the Warriors George, Maximilian, Rita, William and Galvão and the Mages Marcus, Otávia and Willa.

The invitation came at a good time, I was managing to support ourselves, but the money was running out, with the hunts I was able to rebuild our savings little by little.

We hunt Earth Lizards, Bronze Spiders, Thorn Bears, Rainbow Snakes.

But it was on the hunt for the Howling Wolves that almost everything went wrong.

The pack that we believed to have twenty wolves, in reality had at least half a hundred, with a 5-Star Alpha in the 2nd Circle.

Twenty Howling Wolves from the 2nd Circle would be hard work, on the other hand half a hundred of them would be what could be called suicide for a team like ours.

The group of ten Adventurers was reduced to six, losing three Warriors and a Mage.

We returned injured and empty-handed.

It was hours in the infirmary until we separated and headed home in the hope of resting.

So we had done E difficulty missions, that was the first D difficulty mission. We were too confident and paid dearly for it.

At home I found Reina sitting at the table.

I always left a note saying how long the mission would last, but with the failure I returned a day early.

Reina looked at me and her eyes widened. I saw the concern in her and briefly felt my heart warm.

“What happened?” – she said worriedly.

I sat at the table with her trying to act normal.

“Bad information, the mission mentioned twenty Howling Wolves when we got there there were more than fifty.” – I explained to make it look good.

She realized the gravity of the situation.

“George, Max, William and Marcos died while we retreated.” – I finally said.

Despite not knowing them personally, I had explained the information about each member of the team in a note when I joined it.

Reina put her hand over her mouth, terrified of what had happened.

“Why don't we forget all this and go home?” – in a pleading tone.

I looked her up and down, trying to find my words.

I took a deep breath.

“Almage has at least four people in the 3rd Circle, they are there at the behest of the County. At least one of them must know about me, I'm an anomaly. You were a Lent. If you return, Almage may interrogate you, but just say that you reached this level with resources. I? I'm going to be used like a lab rat.” – I shouted even though I was trying to control my voice.

Reina looked at me confused, but then seemed to get furious.

“How will I be safe there?” – it was my turn to beg.

My plea seemed to pass right through her without having any effect.

“I don't know! I just don't want to lose myself in this life”. – she replied, losing her patience once and for all.

I put my hand to my head without thinking and my wounds throbbed without mercy.

“You may not have that option, but I do.” – she said, completing the coffin with the last nail.

My heart, which had warmed at the sight of her, broke completely.

All the feelings that I had been keeping inside of me until that moment lost control. The Air around me visibly vibrated my Aura and my Mana exploded out of my body.

I lost my reasoning.

“What happened to us, weren’t we in this together?” – I shouted.

My scream caused her to become hostile.

“I didn't choose this life, I just accepted everything you decided.” – she replied, raising her voice.

At that moment she too exploded, the air around her crackled with vibrations of Aura and Mana.

“You chose everything we did until then, my opinion was never worth anything.” – she complained with a voice full of anger.

I was in disbelief.

“We talked so much, each step was discussed ten, fifteen times before it was taken. How come I never took your opinion into account?” – I replied, trying to rationalize with her.

Her hands balled into fists and she screamed at the top of her lungs.

“I never asked for any of this. If it weren't for me to care about you I would have stayed in Almage. Everything that happened was because of you.” – she said with resentment.

Before my sanity could slip away, I turned around and left the house.

With the little emergency money I carried with me, I looked for an inn and registered.

My body hurt so much.

My mind hurt so much.

My heart hurt so much.

My stomach was churning.

My eyes burned.

After a long time I cried again.

I worked, fought and accepted everything.

I saw the memories, from our meeting until now, flash before my eyes.

How I came to love that person.

How I came to care about her

How I came to try to understand her

Today that was over.

Without realizing it, my throat let out a cry of despair.

I lost consciousness before it even finished.