Ston stared at Benign in disbelief, wondering if the young man had gone crazy. Protectors of the realms were typically expected to perform senseless acts of self-sacrifice for others, but witnessing it first hand still surprised him.
"I will be fine." Benign said to Vargel and to answer Ston's questioning stare. He knew it was a lie. He knew they knew that too. He lost his mind in war because it took a good amount of senselessness to merge self-sacrifice with bravery, and sneak into enemy's quarters frequently.
His skin burnt and he hissed in pain. It wasn't too bad. The Dark Miasma felt like highly salted water touching a gash. He had swam in a sea with open wounds before. "I will be fine." He said more confidently than the first time.
Closing his eyes to avoid the miasma contacting his eyes, he trudged in. He groaned as the heavy air engulfed him and he felt his skin vibrate. He increased his steps but the miasma clashed with his body harshly, and his legs began to waver.
[Injury Sustained....]
[-25 and counting...]
"Shut up." He murmured with breaking lips. The air tasted like rotten bodies and sulphur, a mixture he didn't think he'd ever taste at once.
[-35 and counting...]
Benign reached his hand towards the door so he'd open it the moment he'd feel it. He heard the elf men go further back which indicated the miasma was still spreading.
"Concentrate... on only... me… shit." he coughed as the forbidden air entered his lungs.
He held his breath and kept enduring the harsh burns till his right hand hit a hard surface.
Immediately, he twisted the door knob and used all his remaining strength to push the gate open.
He finally made a meaning of the words he'd been hearing from Vargel. "Benign, stop! You are badly hurt and I doubt I can heal that!"
He focused on one part of the door and pushed it all the way to the end. He fell on his knees when he was stopped by a wall. The pain was stopping, and his regeneration began to catch up with the burns.
"Benign! You! It... stopped..."
Hearing Vargel, Benign let out a big exhale and freed the forbidden air in his lungs. The pain racking through his body was nothing compared to the satisfaction he felt.
It was always a thing of pride to protect his unit and once again, there was no casualty. Except him, which barely mattered.
[You should really work on your saviour complex. Or suicidal complex. I don't know which one it is.]
Benign's mood changed, he waited for his lips to heal before retorting. "You are not one to talk. How did you help me through any of this other than reminding me of my reducing health points?"
He checked the health points and they hadn't gone below 800 yet. He had lost 90 points in only a short while.
[If I, your system, had all the answers, I'd not look for experienced soldiers from different parts of the universe to help solve my problems. I'd just guide a child to it.]
Benign stayed quiet, then sighed.
The system just admitted he searched through universes for those who made up Legal Systemists, confirming he really wasn't the only one.
The soldier wondered if their experiences and trials would all be the same, since their goal was. How many were they? What would happen if any of them failed their mission?
But most importantly, what would happen if they met each other? He could already imagine what he'd do if he found a fellow Legal Systemist. Avoid them as much as he could. They'd be just as capable as he was, and much more.
If they had stayed longer than he had, they'd likely have more skills. In his current state, he'd been disadvantaged twice. He had no idea how lucky the others had been with their skills. He stopped his thinking and checked his wounds, they were all gone. It had taken a while for level 5 Regeneration to catch up to level 6 Dark Miasma burns.
"Not bad."
[Now, go ahead and finish your mission. The Gate finally obeyed.]
Benign rolled his eyes. Obeyed? He held the doorknob to help his legs to stand. Before he could, he felt someone pull him up.
"Thanks, Ston." He faced him and the elf looked both confused, annoyed, and impressed.
"You rushed in because you've regeneration magic, no doubt. A perk of being a protector of the realms?" he asked.
The soldier agreed like always. "There's a lot of useful perks, so I can handle a little bit of everything. I told you that if I said the plan, you wouldn't like it. At least, it worked."
"And that's all we'd thank Lady Gaia for that. Imagine if it didn't." Vargel scolded. "Please, let's know first, so I wouldn't die of a heart attack before the actual danger."
Benign nodded, while noting how Vargel reminded him of his late overly concerned grandmother. "Let's get in then."
Ston pushed the other part of the door open and he did it more easily than Benign had. Benign wondered if he could check the elf's strength in status.
"There's nothing here." Vargel informed.
Benign turned to the empty dark hall. There was nothing? His fists clenched but he held himself from reacting. He strolled into the hall. Nothing popped up. The ground below them seemed to be soft, with black water seeping from the cracks on the grounds. The pain raking his bones, results of his struggle, intensified. "Where the hell is this!"
Vargel jolted on hearing him shout. He nervously touched the walls inside the gate and it felt wet. He looked around the dark hall and nothing was interesting. Just a dark wet hall. "I-I can't begin to wonder where we are or how water got in, just like I can't explain how the light came on." He looked back at the illuminated cave.
The place was more mysterious than it had been when he came last time. It might excite him, but it also scared him due to its near death experiences.
"I asked you a question, Lego." Benign said, his voice almost inaudible. "Where is the fucking Blade of Centuries?"