CORE
Chapter 16 - "Bargain"

"Twice your pain is all it will take now," The voice in the black void uttered...

Hero woke up, but not as hastily due to the fact his body felt numbed and fatigued, especially after using his Magic Ultimatum for the first time, it was certainly quite draining.

"I will never get used to that..." Hero said as he scratched the back of his head, getting up as he sighed.

Now that he was relaxed, he could take in his surroundings comfortably, but much to his surprise they were in a lush forest, with birds chirping everywhere as they were in an open spot where the sun shined the brightest.

"...This is a breather," Hero spoke as his eyes slightly widened, he then turned around, to which he saw Justice sitting down on a chopped tree trunk, in which he seemed to be toying around with a stick, resting his head on his hand as he drew what seemed to be a castle of sorts.

The castle seemed... Highly detailed, one could only draw like that if they had seen such a structure repeatedly for a long time, almost without end.

"You're awake, eh? You took a lot longer than other times, I had enough time to do some art, It was one of my hobbies before," Justice said as he smirked, dropping the stick, without turning around and slightly catching Hero off-guard as to how he was able to notice him so quickly.

"...I suppose, so, what are we to do now-?" Hero said before suddenly being cut off by Justice who then stood up from the tree trunk.

"Take this time to chat and rest a bit, don't keep rushing in blind when you're not in a good state," Justice said in a playful tone as he raised his hand before turning around to Hero.

"...Sure, it seems like a good choice, this shouldn't be too detrimental," Hero reluctantly said as he laid back down on the grass, which rather strangely, was as soft as butter, yet as runny as sand as the sun shined down on his body.

"I take it you're enjoying the vacation so far?" Justice sarcastically spoke as he walked up to Hero.

"To be honest? Yes," Hero replied as he took a deep breath and Justice sat down next to him.

"So, about that conversation you had with him, do you really think of yourself as that? I mean, you never really had a choice right?" Justice asked in a casual tone, to which Hero responded, but stopped the moment he was to utter the first word as he stayed silent.

"I don't know this world as much as you do, but I think everyone's a hypocrite, no matter how committed they are to their beliefs, but that same hypocrisy allows them to strive in the first place," Hero said in a slightly guilty tone, reminiscing of the times where he did not seem to help, but more so just caused just a bit more damage to the wound, or at least what he thought.

"...I have most likely said this before, but you truly are a lot like me, I never had a choice, I was created to be a Guardian," Justice said as he snickered before raising his hand up to the air, staring at the morning sun directly as he outstretched his hand to it, before gripping it tightly.

"And when I didn't want to be one..." Justice then sat up.

"I was punished, for defying a predestined fate, given by an entity I dread deeply, seems quite familiar, does it not?"

"...It does, we can't change the past, especially when the damage has already been done," Hero replied as he stood up, and stretched his arms.

“But it is up to us if we want to weep about it or change the future to stop any more weeping,” Hero spoke, turning around as he then let out his hand for Justice to grab onto.

“Ah, you really are cliche, but I can admit, in a good way,” Justice said, chuckling with a grin on his face as he grabbed Hero’s hand, pulling himself back up, rather comically as he looked as he jumped up like a spring.

"Now that you're in a better mood, let's do what I said, move forward so we can finally end all of this," Hero spoke, with a relaxed face and tone.

"May I also take this opportunity to say that I have not a single memory left of this place?" Justice said in an eerily cheerful tone.

"Like the last two? You really need to work on your Memory," Hero raised his eyebrow as he took a deep breath.

"It is not something I can help," Justice replied as the two looked at the vast amount of trees before them.

"I can make traversing this quick if you want, or do you want to take the sweet time to satisfy your curiosity?" Justice questioned as they too began to walk into the forest.

"Will be choosing the latter," Hero replied as they two stepped into the forest, leaving the sunny, exposed spot...

As the two of them walked along what was surprisingly a pre-built, yet at the same time, natural path within the forest, they came across all types of animals, birds, rabbits, and far more, some were more or less docile, but as they continued to stroll, Hero then posed a question.

"I sense some traces of magical energy here, is this a common hunting ground perhaps?' Hero questioned as he scoured around the forest, completely on guard.

"Now just what did I say about taking this time to rest? No need to be so on guard all the time," Justice said as he put his hands in his pocket and sighed.

But at that moment, as Justice took another step, he felt as though his feet landed on something bouncy, and as he looked down to see it, he noticed a linear string of magic, which seemed to be emerging from his left side, he then looked back up, seeing Hero was going ahead, after making sure he was safe, he then turned his head over to his left side.

He was met with an unpleasant surprise as he was almost immediately shot in the head by a magic arrow, causing him to stumble back he groaned in pain for a short moment before grabbing onto the magic arrow, Hero heard this and swiftly turned around.

"Justice!" Hero shouted out as he dashed over to him, instinctually manifesting his magical energy enough to where he could defend the incoming threat himself, in which he then spotted a head poking out from afar.

Simultaneously as he slid, he sent out a blast of ice magic toward where he saw it, but it then disappeared and supposedly ran to hide deeper into the forest.

"...Hold on, this isn't actually fatal," Justice said, merely chuckling it off as he casually pulled the magic arrow out of his head and it then dissipated in his very hands.

"I believe we are being hunted, I am not sure when they found out, but we must stay on guard now," Hero said as both he and Justice activated their magical auras for further protection as they continued walking along the path, although at a far faster pace.

"...Indeed," Justice muttered as he secretly poured in some of his own magic into Hero's aura, further strengthening it without him noticing.

However, the moment he did so, he felt an odd, stinging sensation all across his body just from touching Hero's magic and adding his own.

"It's that feeling again... Ha, just what are you exactly?" Justice thought, in slight skepticism, not of Hero himself, but rather, of his biology.

But while in this state of thinking, Justice suddenly sensed four magical arrows heading straight for him, this time, they were all aiming for his head, but rather than avoiding the attack, he only smirked as Hero just narrowly grabbed and absorbed all of them in the nick of time.

"I appreciate it, now I'll be playing my part too," Justice said as he pointed his finger exactly where the magic arrows came from, before suddenly sending out a miniature orb of light, but rather unexpectedly, it illuminated almost the entire forest within, which was almost pitch black prior, with only the small spaces of sunlight lighting everything up.

With this maneuver, both Justice and Hero were able to quickly pinpoint the location of the Magic Arrow User, and due to the fact they were not expecting this move, they unknowingly let their body stick out like a white circle in a pitch-black space.

"Bingo," Justice commented, as he and Hero, in what seemed like an instant, suddenly appeared right behind the Magic Arrow User, who was still oblivious to this as to them, they had disappeared from their position into thin air, and as they took a closer look, they appeared to be in some sort of armor, specifically that of a Medieval Era Knight.

"Damn it! Where did they go?" they muttered in clear frustration as they slightly stepped out of the bushes, but they were suddenly pulled back by their helmet as they felt something grab onto it, and with such high levels of grip strength too.

"Hey, buddy, what are you doing snooping around here? Y'know that arrow you shot earlier really gave me quite the reality check," Justice said before throwing the Arrow User to a nearby tree, as they tried to get up and attack, they were suddenly pinned to the wall by multiple spears of light summoned by Justice as they shrieked in fear as they crawled back further into the tree.

"Speak, we want things to be quick," Justice said as he kneeled down to Arrow User, getting level-headed with them as he stared at them with an unamused look, but to them, they felt all sorts of sensations, all of them being dreadful as they stared back into the cold, white, void-like eyes of Justice.

"I ask you not to go too far, if possible allow me to do it," Hero said in a serious tone, cutting Justice off from his interrogation as he put his hand on his shoulder.

"...Hmm, fine, I'll hand the torch to you," Justice said, sighing as he shrugged his arms while smiling before stepping back and falling into a large bush, essentially using it as a bed. Sᴇaʀch Thᴇ FɪndNovᴇl.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"So... Why were you trying to shoot us?" Hero spoke as he sat down in front of the Arrow User, who was still pinned to the wall by Justice's Light Spears.

For a moment, silence filled the area as Hero patiently waited for the Arrow User to respond, to which they did, although their voice sounded slightly concerned, for their life.

"...I was sent here to guard this pathway, I never had any intent to kill you, I was just doing what I was told!" The Arrow User responded in a fierce yet noticeably calmer tone to which Hero slowly nodded.

"Understood, well then... Justice, release him," Hero commanded, to which Justice raised his hand in the air, while still lying down on the bushes, he snapped his fingers as the light spears dissipated into thin air.

The Arrow User quickly jolted his body upward, standing up as they got into a defensive position, even though the situation seemed alright now, they were still strangers, who knew what they could be capable of.

"But that brings another question... Why would your benefactor need outsiders to be killed on sight, regardless of how innocent or criminal they are?" Hero questioned, in a tone both genuinely curious and slightly irritated.

"...That I can not answer," The Arrow User spoke as they put their hand on their back, and slowly summoned a sword of magic to attempt to decapitate Hero, as they could find out far too much.

Without another second wasted, they pulled back their arm to the front and swung true at Hero, but just as they thought they were able to run free, suddenly, the magic sword shattered into particles the moment it came in contact with Hero's neck, as he stood there, unfazed.

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