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Return of the Fallen Vol1 Ch23

Author: Blue_Rat

ch23

Howling screams reverberated from the Karada Cauldron. Asuna and Kimi at first were delighted to know that the boys would suffer as they did but hearing the agonizing shrieks coming from the Karada Cauldron, left the two only feeling a chill run down their spine.

The screams only reminded them of the pain and torture they suffered within and how they never wished to experience it ever again. hearing their friends in there they felt a sense of guilt for actually wanting them to experience what they did.

Rust came upon the two and barked at them.

“Ignore them and get back to work.”

Asuna and Kimi still felt terrible for them and found it hard to spar again but Rust wasn’t having any of it. Grabbing a wooden sword he swung at Asuna’s face and she had no choice but to defend herself. Rust didn’t stop there though. With a quick sidestep, Rust’s speed increased many fold and his body blurred momentarily before vanishing. Kimi’s eyes widen as an afterimage of Rust stood before her.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood and she felt a prickle of static spread across the surface of her skin. Whether it was instinct kicking in or the Blood Orb’s memories lending a hand, Kimi swung her sword behind her back without looking and felt a strike reach her sword.

Seeing that Kimi had blocked his attack, Rust couldn’t help but smile.

“Good, again.”

Rust attacked the two relentlessly to keep their mind occupied, meanwhile inside the cauldron, Danny was screaming at the top of his lungs, for him there was no chance in hell he could tolerate the pain.

The boiling was just as intense now as it was when Asuna and Kimi were in it and Shin was now regretting his cocky attitude the day before. As his skin blistered over and peeled off continuously, the best he could do was to fight pain with pain. Every now and again a groan escaped him and the only way to suppress himself from screaming was to bite down onto his bottom lip. Lines of blood poured down from his mouth as he repeatedly bit and tore open his lip. This was all he could do but even this wasn’t enough and he was on the verge of passing out.

Looking over at Kazuki, at first, he was surprised at how calm he was but then he figured since Kazuki had the fire element, then he must be able to endure the heat or something like that. However, this was not entirely true. Yes, Kazuki’s main element was fire but he currently did not have a Mage Core so he wasn’t immune to fire or heat.

If one could see into his body though they would discover something incredible. Without a Mage Core, he should be suffering immensely from the heat but with the power of ki, he could wrap himself in a small protective layer of ki energy. With this, he could keep most of the heat out but not all of it, so right now he currently felt like he was sitting in a sauna.

Shin’s eyes began to roll back up into his head but before he blacked out, in this dark container he could just make out Sam’s face. He saw Sam sitting comfortably as though none of this bothered him.

Kazuki as well had no clue how Sam could sit without a change of expression whatsoever. It may have been dark but Kazuki could tell that Sam wasn’t in the slightest discomfort. Kazuki couldn’t help but ask.

“Sam, doesn’t this bother you? Doesn’t any of this hurt?”

Sam shrugged his shoulders.

“Pain’s never been much to me. This heat isn’t that much.”

Kazuki’s eyes widened. Seeing the skin boil away from Sam, Kazuki couldn’t find any of it logical. He could endure because of his ki energy but Sam could take it all with a seemingly normal body.

(This Sam has a monstrous tolerance for pain. Who can just sit idly by without crying out for god while their skin falls away.)

Danny and Shin fainted and should easily drown but because of the mages outside monitoring them, there was no way they would die on their watch and the mages kept them afloat without even batting an eye.

Almost an hour later, the mages stepped away. Rust threw his sword into the dirt and it stood upright as he walked away from Asuna and Kimi. The two lay sprawled on the dirt covered in sweat and filth. As their chests rose and fell heavily, the two heaved and inhaled desperately for air. Their muscles were numb and they could no longer move.

“Asuna.”

*Huff Huff Huff*

“Y..Yea?”

*Huff Puff Huff*

“Di…Did you see his movements at all?”

*Huff Huff Huff*

“No…You?”

*Huff*

“Not even for a second.”

Rust whistled while he sauntered over toward the Karada Cauldron. Like the day before, Rust gave the cauldron weighing several tons a solid kick and the contents inside spilled out on the training field. Danny and Shin lay curled up in a ball in each other’s arms completely naked. If Asuna and Kimi had any strength to look then their faces would have turned red from embarrassment.

Kazuki pretended to struggle as he stood up, while Sam simply looked bored with everything. As the energy from the Blood Orb finished infusing itself into their bodies, the skin they lacked now started to heal at a rapid rate. Blisters melted away like butter and smooth tender skin regrew and revealed a nice healthy luster. Sam looked over at Kazuki and his face scrunched for a moment.

“What is it? Why are you staring at me like that?”

Sam continued to scrunch his face in thought before he said.

“Since when did it become so big? I could have sworn you were smaller than me.”

(Shit, why does Sam know how big Ryuta’s soldier is? They seemed close but not that close.)

Kazuki felt a bit of cold sweat form on his head but then Sam finished his sentence.

“When was the last time? I guess it was when we were kids and we used to take baths together. Still, I didn’t expect you to surpass me like this.”

Kazuki breathed cooly and laughed.

“Of course, it’s grown since then. You can’t expect a Charmander to never evolve, hahaha.”

Asuna and Kimi may not be able to currently move due to exhaustion but they could still hear these idiots talk about their dongs. Their faces became redder and redder.

“Those idiot perverts.”

Rust waved his hand and a ring upon his finger flashed with a purple light. Several blankets appeared from seemingly nowhere and covered the four young men.

Danny and Shin slowly opened their eyes and groggily sat up. Danny squinted for a moment before he rubbed his eyes several times before proclaiming.

“My vision… it’s, it’s clear now.”

Rust walked over and pulled Danny and Shin up from the ground.

“Hehe, that’s the power of the Karada Cauldron; not only does it increase your strength but all of your body’s attributes increase several fold.”

Rust handed Danny a fist-sized rock and pointed toward a tree about a hundred feet away in the distance. Danny knew exactly what he wanted and took aim before throwing the rock as hard as he could at the tree.

*Swoosh Thud*

Danny, who was not known for strength or athleticism, perfectly struck the middle of the tree. The rock had burst apart and shattered into little fragments and the tree was no better. With a large split in its center, the tree seemed fragile, as though it would fully break apart and come crashing down.

Danny looked between his hand and the tree several times before gulping hard.

“Whoa.”

Rust slapped him on the back and smiled.

“Nice throw.”

Shin’s energy skyrocketed seeing this and he too grabbed a rock and threw it at the same tree.

*Swoosh Crack*

His throw was precise as well and struck the tree. His rock as well shattered and this time the tree came crashing down.

“Ryuta, the bet, how should we decide this?”

Kazuki had forgotten about that but they did agree to it yesterday.
Looking around, there were several large boulders further down the training field.

“We’ll settle it with those.”

Shin’s eyes shone and he raced on ahead, leaving his blanket behind. Halfway there he realized there was a breeze down below and rushed back while laughing. Danny was the only one who seemed embarrassed and said.

“Um… maybe we should get some clothes first.”

Rust laughed and sent a soldier to get some spare clothes.

A few moments later, Kazuki and the others were now wearing some worn old soldier uniforms. Simple linen pants and a wool shirt wrapped in a leather chest, arm, and leg armor. Looking at the small symbol on the chest, it was a griffin over a snake, which clearly showed that this uniform represented the kingdom of Treia.

Kazuki and the others stood next to the boulders, excitement clear in a few of their eyes. Asuna and Kimi just managed to drag themselves over as they were interested in seeing the bet play out.

There were 7 boulders, standing next to them, each one measured from around half the size of an average person, all the way up to a full-size person. The weight, of course, was several times more than an adult male.

Shin slapped the top of one.

“Ain’t she a beauty? So how should we settle this?”

Kazuki didn’t wish to waste time and wanted to finish this in one shot.

“This is a test of strength so it will purely be about strength. Let’s just stick with caveman rules. Whoever lifts the biggest rock is the biggest man. It’s simple, it’s clean, and it clearly decides who’s the big man on campus and who’s the pleb.”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself.”

Danny jumped in.

“Wait wait wait, I want in on the bet as well.”

Sam as well stepped in.

“Me too.”

Asuna and Kimi shared a look with one another and felt their own competitive spirit swell up. Seeing the boys get energized for some reason washed away some of their exhaustion.

“Me and Kimi want in on this as well.”

All the boys looked at the girls like [Really] but felt no reason to refuse. Even Rust got in on the action. Rust shouted out.

“Hehehe, now this is what I’m talking about. Tell you what, whoever wins amongst you, I’ll give the winner 10 Zeni gold coins. How does that sound?”

The group of soldiers became envious as they started chattering in a circle.

“10 pieces of Zeni gold! Holy shit that’s almost half a year’s wage. No fair.”
“Damn, the heroes get everything. Hey, guys, how about we have our own bet? I’ve got 10 silvers on the big guy.”
“What, that’s a guaranteed win, the odds on that will have to be taken into account.”
“10 silvers, why not bet big? I’ll go tenfold. I bet 1 gold Zeni coin on the funny one.”
“Anyone care to take these bets?”

Suddenly the surroundings became rowdy with betting soldiers. The mages got interested as well and the noise became even louder. The mages, however, weren’t betting for simple pieces of gold, but instead, they were wagering odd named ingredients.

“I’ll bet 1 monster core, brown quality, any takers?”
“Hmph, I’ll take that bet if you throw in one Caber fruit.”

With bets confirmed and odds settled, this small simple bet suddenly put a bit of pressure on Kazuki and the others.