Of Things Left Behind

Lightning crackled between the clouds in brilliant flashes of blue and purple. Hail had long since melted away into rain, which had further lightened up to little more than a constant mist scattered over the ruined city below. Aside from the soft rumble of distant thunder, the world was surprisingly quiet, now.

Down amongst muddied greys and browns that colored the rotting husk of civilization, a single dot of blue stuck out, tucked away in a small gap between the once-imposing remains of worn stone buildings.

The Gamer looked up at the blackened sky, watching the soft patter of rain on the roof of his protective dome of ice. Beyond the thin barrier, the last of the debris cloud from the hospital’s collapse had been swept away by the winds of the storm. There was an odd contrast in the soft, calming pitter-patter of droplets above and the broken remnants of a long-past apocalypse they were sheltered within.

No monsters had assailed them while they were tucked away in his protective bubble, and he couldn’t see any lying in wait outside of it even now that it was clear enough for him to see again.

It was all oddly peaceful, in a melancholic sort of way.

’It’s like… a really weird window to watch the rain through,’ he thought, wistfully.

Taking a deep breath, John placed his hands on his knees and pushed himself to his feet.

Shaking his head, he cast his wandering thoughts aside and turned towards his companions on the other side of the dome. With the air around them now as clear as it was going to realistically get, the group had decided to move out, and so the pair of knights were checking over their gear. Unlike The Gamer, whose powers were supremely detailed in item management, they had to actually look over their equipment to make sure it was secured properly, which took a lot longer than him just glancing over status windows.

John allowed his gaze to linger on Ela, watching as she adjusted the straps of her shield, then ran her hand up her arm over where her old injuries were. The smile she donned as she did so gave him one to match. He still wasn’t entirely sure what he’d ever done to be deserving of such a miraculous healing ability, but he would ever be thankful he could share it with her.

The Gamer sighed. ’It’s a shame fighting monsters seems like the best way to access that power…’

Realizing that he was on a mental tangent, John forcibly turned his attention to finalizing his own layers of preparation.

His stat points had been distributed, his health and mana were fully replenished, and his equipment loadouts had been adjusted to include his new spellbook in his second set, replacing the makeshift melee setup he’d had before. His current game plan was to keep the spellbook out as much as he could to maintain the regeneration buff on his mana, switching to the staff only when he needed the extra oomph of damage from it.

Beyond that, he’d chosen not to take any skill upgrades immediately, opting instead to keep his last two talent points on-hand in case he needed to quickly modify any of his abilities whenever they found the next boss.

’We’ll see if I can actually do any of that in the middle of fighting,’ he thought, recalling just how overwhelming fighting could actually be for him.

With a flourish, his staff manifested in his hand, the well-worn lantern on its head rattling as it settled.

Looking down at the blanched wooden handle, The Gamer noted several new scars etched into it - deep uneven grooves that exposed its soft core. Beyond that, the blade at the bottom was now bent off at an awkward angle, and even the lantern-head sat askew now, as if some piece inside it was loose.

It honestly made him a lot more sad than he’d expected - he’d grown quite attached to the staff in the short time he’d had it.

’I suppose I’ve been through a lot with it in just a few days…’ John frowned, running a hand over the deepest lesion running down the side. ’I don’t think duck tape and prayers are going to work this time.’

You never know. Maybe I’m listening.

The Gamer smiled as the divine voice echoed in his ears. ’I’m beginning to believe that you’re always listening… Or maybe you just know everything I’m gonna say because of who you are. 50/50.’

What’s the difference?

’Functionally? Not much, I suppose.’ He shrugged. ’So, if I say “pretty please” to the best goddess ever, is there any chance I could get at least a bit of a patch on this?’

The silence he got back was very expected, so he started shifting his windows to check on his armor when he noticed a faint green light ripple down the staff, gently pulling together some of the worst of the damage. It wasn’t completely fixed by the time the glow had faded, but, according to the item’s stat page, it was back up to just below half durability.

John smiled. ’Thanks.’

I’m feeling generous today. That should be enough to get it back out of the dungeon in one piece, but then you’re on your own.

’Hopefully, either Moira and the Order can help me fix it or she or Ela can point me to someone who can,’ he thought, shifting his staff around to look it over more closely. ’I’ll figure something out.’

This time, silence really was the only response he received, and so The Gamer moved on to checking the rest of his equipment.

Unfortunately, his armor was in just as rough a shape as his weapon - worse even, in many places. The metal plates that had protected his shoulders and arms had almost all been torn off at some point in the prior battle, either by the boss’ attacks or by his fall down the elevator. Dents and divots pockmarked the remaining plates on his chest and back.

He was lucky that what pieces remained were still wearable.

’I know it was “scrap” equipment, but this stuff is falling apart a lot faster than I thought it would. I guess maybe I shouldn’t expect much out of gear if it isn’t magical in some way - this stuff is just metal strapped to whatever they had around,’ he thought, brushing down the reinforced shirt he’d borrowed. It, at least, was still in excellent condition. ’Eh, maybe the materials are worth something, at least.’

Closing his windows, he made a note to follow up on that idea once they were out of the barrier. ’For my own sake, I probably ought to just invest in some quality armor from our world, especially if I’m going to start trying to clear these dungeons more regularly.’

Shaking his head, John closed his windows, darkening the dome with the absence of their amber glow. “I think I’m good to go. How are you two doing?”

“Ready,” Ela said, confidently, picking up her axe and resting it on her shoulder.

Moira nodded, pulling her hammer out of her shield. “It looks like we're clear. I see nothing outside.”

“Yeah,” John said, turning around. “I was kinda expecting something to be waiting for us out there, after all the noise that we have to have made.”

“Would you have rather had a horde of zombies waiting for us to make a move?” the Bookworm Knight asked, teasingly. “I am sure we could go find some.”

He chuckled, shaking his head. “No, no, this is fine… but, uh, isn’t there some kind of saying about the enemy you don’t see? ”

“I think you have that proverb wrong in more ways than one.” She giggled.

John shrugged, failing to hold down a smile. “...Probably. You get what I mean, though. We know these things can be smart enough to set up ambushes now. I’m more worried about something else catching us off guard than the random normal zombies.”

“Mmm…” Ela hummed. “We will be on guard if anything tries.”

“She’s right,” Moira said, stepping forward to John’s side of the dome. “Now that we know they are capable of setting a trap, we can be more alert. We also still have Ela’s innate ability as a backup.”

The Gamer exhaled heavily, turning his gaze once more out of his ice barrier into the stormy ruins. “You’re right. I’m just… thinking cautious thoughts, I guess.

“Anyway,” he continued, turning back to the Shield Warden, “We’re headed back to the hospital, right? Or whatever’s left of it?”

The redhead nodded. “Right. It’s the only landmark that we are certain of. From there, we can figure out how to get back on the path we planned back in the manor.”

“Alright, then. If we’re all ready…” John started, pausing for a second in case anyone stopped him. When neither of his companions objected, he placed a hand on his [Swirling Mirrorjade Barrier] and willed the magic away. “Let’s go.”

Almost as soon as he severed his connection with the alchemical structure, the vibrancy faded from the shimmering blue of its ice. Even without him directly maintaining it, the dome was sturdy enough not to immediately collapse, but he was easily able to reach out with [Reshape Matter] and carve open a door back out into the alley.

Moira stepped forward, raising her blessed shield in front of her. “I will go first. It is safest for me to be the one to check.”

The Gamer couldn't argue with the invincible bulwark she held up, so he stepped back, allowing the fiery-haired paladin to pass. “Very well. After you.”

The alley she found outside the bubble was just as silent as they'd expected. The Warden kept her defensive stance, scanning the area and the rooftops of the building on either side for any enemies. Finding nothing, she gestured for her companions to come out and join her.

Together, the trio made their way to the main road, where they could finally see the scale of devastation they'd narrowly escaped.

The hospital had fallen over onto its side, crumbling as it crushed the first row of buildings in their direction. From there, it had folded in on itself, the storm-worn stone unable to survive the impact. Now, it was little more than a pile of ruined concrete and shattered glass, with only a few of the larger support beams and inner walls sticking out of the rubble.

’And all that poor loot stuck beneath it…’ John thought, bitterly looking at the destruction the battle had wrought. His eyes widened. ’Wait, did all that land on the grave, too?’

“Hey, uh, when we get there, can we detour for a minute?” he asked, somberly. “I'm worried- We buried the girl behind the hospital, last time we were here, and that whole thing might have come down on top of it.”

His companions turned to him as he stammered out his request. Ela, immediately empathetic, walked over to wrap an arm around him. It took Moira a moment to recall that part of his story, but then her expression similarly softened.

“Of course,” Ela said, reassuringly.

“I will help if I can,” Moira added, “but I don't think we will be able to move any of the larger slabs, if they've fallen on it.”

John nodded. “I… know, but I want to see. I can't tell which side of the building was the one that collapsed. If we were lucky, the gravestone is on the other side, and it'll just need to be cleaned up.”

“Right,” Ela smiled. “We are due for some good luck, after this week.”

The Gamer swallowed the anxious nerves in his throat and returned her smile; he hoped that was the case. With their plans set, the trio set out into the ruined city, headed back to where they'd started.

—

The ruins weren’t much easier to navigate up close. The party had ended up having to take a side street around the worst of the collapse, routing around one of the crushed buildings to find their way into what John identified as the old parking lot.

If it weren't for the broken husks of a couple old military vehicles sticking out, he wasn't sure he'd have been able to even tell that much. Still, it was the first area they found that looked reasonably safe to cross - and it doubled by orienting John towards his goal.

When he and Ela had first adventured through the barrier, they'd reached the hospital from the front, finding that door barred. They'd circled almost all the way around left before finding the open loading bay. That meant the collapse hadn't gone quite the opposite way of the grave, but off to one side.

He hoped that was good enough.

For now, though, the group was making their way around the edge of the hospital’s broken remains, doing what they could to avoid jagged spikes of metal and other dangerous bits of rubble as they tried to get back on track with the plan they’d settled on earlier.

John hopped down a half-broken wall into a small clearing in the rubble, turning to make sure Ela was just behind him. The trio had settled into a set line as they moved - Moira was up front, so her heavy armor and impenetrable shield would be the first to meet any enemies that charged at them, while Ela and her sixth sense for danger held their rear. That conveniently left John sandwiched in between, where it would be easiest for his [Swirling Mirrorjade Barrier] to cover all three of them, if he had to suddenly deploy it again.

’At least we can avoid the worst of all of this by going around the edge of the impact zone,’ he thought, watching to make sure Ela landed safely next to him. Once she had, he turned and called forward, “See anything, Moira?”

The Warden was just in front of the pair, having made her way up the next fallen section of stone wall. That gave her a bit of a vantage point, elevated a few feet atop the ruin, and she was using it to scope out the area while she paused to let her companions catch up.

“I think I see the road we are looking for,” Moira said, pointing her hammer forward, just off to the right. “That should take us downtown, where we’d planned to start originally. Do you know where the grave should be?”

“Off to the left, I think,” he answered, stepping up a few broken pieces of concrete to join her atop the pile of debris. From there, he took a second to look around, finding the best approximation for where he thought the back corner of the hospital would have been, if the building hadn’t come down.

John pointed towards his best guess. “Somewhere over there. Not too far off track.”

Moira nodded as Ela hopped up behind him, and, together, the group started moving again, carefully navigating the remnants of the hospital. At this point, they’d already navigated around the worst of it, though, so it didn’t take them long to get where they were going. Amidst the sea of dreary greys they were wading through, a single, shimmering pillar of metal stuck out to draw their attention as it reflected the flash of lightning.

The Gamer’s sense of direction had been spot on.

The plain metal gravestone that John had pulled from the earth to mark the grave still stood tall, its smoothness distinctive amongst the rough and jagged edges of the rubble. It helped that the open area it was in had generally avoided the worst of the collapse, though not all of it. Aside from a hefty coating of dust and debris, one big chunk of stone had landed almost right on top of it.

“Together now!” John grunted as the trio pushed as one, trying to shove the broken hunk of concrete over and off the grave.

The fibers of Ela’s suit thrummed with verdant green mana as Moira began to glow with holy radiance. Knowing that he wouldn’t be able to contribute as much raw might as his warrior companions, The Gamer was focused instead on using his alchemy to carve out the ground behind the stone slab, hoping to give them better leverage.

At first, it seemed not to budge at all, but that changed quickly enough. As soon as John had worn out enough of a divot for it to start moving, it lurched all at once, its inertia overcome as it rolled off the dungeon girl’s grave.

’Morgan…’ John thought, reminding himself of her name as the trio stepped back. “Wait, what’s that?”

From the soft dirt, beneath where the hunk of concrete had lain, the glint of metal stuck out. Kneeling down, The Gamer slowly began to brush it off, trying to figure out what it was.

“Did you not bury that?” Moira asked, inquisitively.

Ela shook her head. “No. That was not us.”

“It looks like a sword,” the Warden said, looking on as John finally pulled the mysterious object from the earth.

She was right - it was a sword in a scabbard. It was plain but polished steel, with a copper crow embossed on the side. The handle bore a floral pattern made of mixed gold and copper accents folded over blackened steel, which ended in a pair of outstretched leaves serving as the crossguard. Immediately, John was struck by the resemblance - this was stunningly similar to an item he already had.

Laying the excavated weapon down, he drew the Sword of the Final Knight from his inventory, setting the weapons next to each other. The newer was a much more refined image of the older, formed not of scrap, but of real, quality materials.

Somewhere, in the back of his mind, The Gamer recalled the question mark reward one achievement had left him with - was this it?

Placing a hand upon the new blade, he cast [Observe].

John smiled a melancholic smile. “I will…”

---

A/N: Merry Christmas, y'all!

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