Slowly, the world began to unfold, blur at first, but clearer as time passed.
"Where am I?" Bryan wondered aloud.
The room was small, with wood barely hanging around.
The mattress he slept on seemed to be made of iron instead of foam.
He sat upright, his eyes darting around, looking for clues.
He couldn't possibly be back in the high plane since there was no way his house was like this.
So it meant only one thing: he was still in blood waste.
"Who rescued me?" He asked slowly, his voice barely above a whisper. His eyes instinctively moved to the wound on his shoulder. "Even the wound has healed," he muttered.
Then a slight creak. The door opened slowly to reveal a boy, barely standing at 5 feet.
"Good evening," the boy greeted with a warm, genuine smile. His blue hair fluttered under the gentle breeze, and his black eyes carried no malice, unlike the bandits Bryan had seen earlier.
Bryan did not reply immediately. His gaze scrutinized the boy till he concluded. 'He seems to be the protagonist I rescued.'
"Good evening," he replied.
The boy smiled and walked closer to Bryan. "I know you must be hungry. How about joining us for dinner?" He asked.
Bryan nodded. He was not going to refuse free food when he was clearly famished.
"Let's go out together, my mum also wants to thank you," the boy said, dragging Bryan by the wrist. "Oh, my name is Xavier," he said.
"Bryan," Bryan said before standing up from the bed to follow him.
They stepped out of the room, into the tiny parlor that could barely contain 3 people.
"Mom, he is awake," Xavier said, his smile deepening as he walked closer to his mother at the dining table.
His mom looked up, her face wrinkled from aging, but she still looked beautiful. Her black hair was packed neatly in ponytails.
As she dropped the plates, she smiled at Bryan. "Thanks for rescuing my son," she said, her head dipping low for a bow.
"You are welcome," Bryan replied. His attention was on the food only.
Seeing this, the mother moved to serve Bryan quickly.
She placed the food on the table. "You can eat,' she said.
Then she served her own and Xavier's. Before she could finish serving, however, Bryan was done eating.
Xavier and his mother looked with surprise. This was all they cooked, and they had to manage it for 2 days. Even giving Bryan a part of it was going to affect their feeding for days.
"I am full," Bryan said, noticing their gazes. He simply ate fast, but that didn't mean he needed more. "Thank you for the meal."
He stood up and cleaned the plate himself in the kitchen before walking back out.
"I would take my leave now," he said. He did not want to spend too much time with them since they were struggling. But that didn't mean he would be too far apart, since Xavier was the protagonist, he needed to help him fulfill his goal before leaving the world.
The mother and Xavier stood up from their seat, their eyes carrying gratitude. "Thank you, once again,' the mother bowed.
Xavier looked at him, then waved happily. "When I grow up, I will be just as strong as you, then defeat those useless nobles," he promised.
Bryan smiled, then walked out. He did not want to have any attachment to the family, so he kept discussions short and straightforward.
Inside the house, Xavier and his mother ate as they talked about Bryan.
Xavier fantasized about killing beasts and using their blood crystals to get stronger.
His mom only smiled through all of this, listening to each word attentively.
"Just be careful, I don't want you dying because of some grand ambition like destroying Duke Alaric Ashen and the Ashen bloodline," she warned cautiously, remembering how he almost died because he said he wanted to kill Duke Ashen in the city square.
Xavier sneered. "If I were as powerful as brother Bryan, I would do it."
"Or don't you want to avenge Dad?" He inquired, his tone dripping with hidden sadness.
At those words, his mother fell silent. Just for a while, before speaking. "Just don't die," the words escaped her lips like they were forced.
Xavier nodded.
Just like that, the meal continued, quietly and peacefully.
Xavier took the plates to the kitchen, quickly washing them before running back outside.
His mom had already left, probably gone to her room. But he heard the cries.
He heard as she teared up, probably from sadness or pain.
"I shouldn't have talked about dad," he muttered, his eyes also turning red as he bolted into his room, locking the door tightly behind him.
Just like that, a mother and child cried their way into midnight without even realizing it.
Outside Xavier's windows, Bryan stood watching atop a tree.
"Which danger did the system talk about?" He whispered with a sigh.
He kept his eyes peeled for any disturbance. He could not let the protagonist die without earning.
Then he saw it, the door moved slowly, like a thing or person was trying to sneak in.
But Xavier had locked the door. No one was allowed entry, no matter who.
The door stopped moving, like the person had given up.
"Is it that simple?" Bryan murmured. 'But who could have slipped into their house at this time?' he thought, but there was no answer.
His eyes narrowed again as he felt the door move again. Bryan was about to laugh at the person's stupidity, but he saw it. The door began to melt at a rapid pace, and green liquid began dripping from the gaping hole. From the hole came a person, black hair and eyes that stared at Xavier with only one intention: to kill.
Bryan looked, surprise flashing in his eyes. "This world is more fucked up than I thought," he face-palmed as he launched through the window in a burst, breaking the already fragile glass into shards.
The assassin looked at the window, clearly shocked.