Penny nodded, and Ryan walked back out the door, stuffing the bottle of corruption-curing potion into his bag. Outside of Runar’s office, he saw the spirits waiting for him. Of course, they knew that Ryan had gotten injured, but he insisted that he was fine and that they should continue celebrating with the people down there for a bit longer, but their concern had clearly gotten too strong.

  “Come on, let’s go,” Ryan said, holding his hand out to the spirits waiting in front of him, and they soon stepped into their domains. “Gregor, some of your stuff fell down just now … I’ll explain it to you on the way up.”

  The automaton immediately started cleaning up, obviously a bit annoyed, but since it clearly wasn’t on purpose, he just quietly cleaned up. And while the spirits were inside their domains, Ryan explained to them that something had taken hold in the space around them, but it didn’t seem like anything they knew about or could help with.

  Runar might know about it, but Ryan was still pretty annoyed at him. He had called Runar earlier to talk about the flowers healing corruption, but that was really just because he didn’t think too much about it. But then again, hiding something this important just because he was pissed at his uncle was probably pretty stupid.

  After making his way upstairs again, Ryan went all the way up to the flat. He stood in the doorway of the living room, seeing his mom, Runar, and Liam sitting on the couch, watching something on TV.

  “There you are! Where were you?” Mary asked, quickly standing up. “I wanted to ask you something about …”

  As she came closer to her son, Mary narrowed her eyes. She ran her hand through Ryan’s hair. “Honey, is that blood? Did you get in a fight again?”

  His heart skipping a beat, Ryan grabbed his forehead, where his wound was before. Kula was supposed to have healed it all up, but there might have been some residue that Ryan didn’t manage to clean off yet.

  “I was … doing some training to awaken my physicality and fell down and hit my head. But it’s really nothing much, just a small scratch,” Ryan explained, pushing his mother’s hand away. She looked at him with a concerned frown.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, I’m sure. I really didn’t fight anyone; don’t worry,” Ryan said. “I’ll just get cleaned up real quick and then head out. I’m meeting up with someone.”

  “Don’t you need to go to a doctor? Does it hurt anywhere?” Mary tried to touch Ryan’s forehead again, but he took a step back.

  “Seriously, it’s all good; don’t worry,” he replied, stepping back into the hallway. If his mom kept looking, she would realize that Ryan wasn’t actually hurt anymore. At that point, it would be impossible to convince her that he hadn’t gotten into a fight. It wouldn’t be the first time that Ryan had come home covered in blood that wasn’t his own, though he obviously wasn’t particularly proud of that.

  He went into the bathroom to get rid of the blood before it could fully dry. He heard soft footsteps approach and expected his mom to follow him, but instead of her, it was Runar. He stepped into the bathroom and closed the door, writing a rune into the air with his finger.

  Ryan could feel the air change, and the sound of the water flowing out of the tap became duller. “I guess she can’t hear what we talk about?”

  “Unless you scream, no,” Runar replied, as Ryan got back to cleaning up his hair., “Alright, so, what was this about curing corruption?”

  “Exactly what it sounds like. The copper flowers can cure corruption. I gave Kindly a flower crown made with the copper—”

  “What? Why did you even go in there? I told you that place is off-limits for you.”

  Ryan grabbed the towel hanging next to the sink and glanced at his uncle through the mirror. “I’ve been going to visit him every time I’m down there, you know?”

  “Excuse me? Why would—”

  Ryan turned around at his uncle and stared at him. He wasn’t in the mood to have some kind of discussion, and Runar was able to pick up on that pretty fast. He grumbled slightly but just moved on.

  “Fine, whatever. So, you did that, and I guess the flowers fought back the corruption? Did Rose manage to extract everything?”

  “I think so. I’ve got the rest of it in my bag. Just a little bit of it was enough to completely wash away the corruption covering Kindly. Rose is treating him right now,” he explained, and a smile formed on Runar’s face immediately.

  “Really? Do you even know what this means?”

  “That the White Shadow Society tried to create a corrupted dungeon?” Ryan responded, and Runar’s face immediately dropped.

  “Why would it—” he said, and then slowly caught up to what Ryan meant. Runar closed his eyes and nodded. “Yeah, that’s exactly what it means. But Gaia was strong enough to fight back against it, creating a cure for corruption in the process.”

  Ryan dried off his hair and approached the door. “Yup. We’ll make sure to plant more of the copper flowers. I already asked Silvia to come by tomorrow; I want her to make something that can speed up their growth even more,” he explained, getting ready to pull the door open. He figured the spell his uncle activated wouldn’t work anymore once he did. But before he could, Runar pressed his hand against the door.

  “I get that you don’t really want to talk to me right now, but at the very least, tell me what happened earlier. I know you called Kula, and I also know that you wouldn’t bother him just because you got hurt during practice. Was it Kindly? Did he hurt you while you were cleaning him off?”

  Ryan stared at his uncle in a bit of disbelief. “What? No, of course not. Kindly is super calm; I don’t get why you keep getting so—” Ryan interrupted himself. He didn’t want to start a fight right now. “I hurt my hand while helping Kindly, yes. But not because of him, but because there was this big lump stuck to him that I could only get rid of by tearing it off him. So, I touched some corruption, but before you freak out, I completely cleaned my hand off with the potion. But it was still sore and I got a bit lightheaded when I was walking down the stairs, so … you know.”

  Runar’s expression of worry immediately turned into an angry frown. “What? Are you serious? Why do you keep doing things like that? You could have died; you have to be more careful!”

  “Oh, gods, not this again … Yes, I know I could have gotten hurt, I’m not an idiot. I know how much I can take.”

  “No, you don’t. Kula messaged me after he was done treating you and reiterated how messed-up your sense of pain is, so what the hell do I have to do to get you to understand that you can’t just keep putting yourself in danger like that?”

  Ryan glared at his uncle. “And what do I have to do to get you to understand that I’m not a little kid? I told you, I know how much I can take and what is too much. Corruption hurts, sure, but I had a bottle that could cure it right next to me.”

  “That’s not the point; you—”

  “Why do you suddenly care?” Ryan interrupted him. “You never cared when I’d come home with bruises, cuts, or black eyes. You’d just ignore all the wounds I had. Or, well, I guess you’d refill the healing salve that we keep in the kitchen.”

  “… That’s not fair, I just … I just didn’t want to get too involved in your life; I was worried I would pull you into all this.”

  “Oh, yeah, how could you ever pull me into a life with more money than I could ever dream of where I, at the same time, can do something that actually matters? How dare you do something so selfish?” he replied sarcastically, his hand shaking in anger. It was rattling the door handle that it was on.

  Runar rubbed the bridge of his nose. “That’s obviously not what I meant.”

  “I used to write you letters, you know,” Ryan replied. “I tried to ask you for help back then. One time when he locked me in the closet, I managed to sneak a flashlight. I was terrified of the dark, so I tried to do anything I could to distract myself. That’s when I found my dad’s old stuff. Some old model kit. And in there was a note addressed to me, telling me that it was one of my father’s favorite models, and that he was sorry he couldn’t be there to build it with me. He apologized for a lot of things, but at the end, he said that you would always be there to help when it mattered the most.”

  The two stood there in silence that was only filled by Ryan’s heavy breathing. “So, I trusted him. And I started writing you letters and would sneak them into the mailbox on the way to school. I would ask you to come and help us. To come and save us from that man.” Ryan held his shoulder, grabbing at the top of his back. “But you never came. So, I just had to take that literal torture. And one day, after he dumped hot coals onto me to punish me for not putting out the fireplace in time, I realized that you were never gonna come. That I had to help myself and become the hero that I wanted you to be.”

  Ryan pulled open the door, stepping out into the hallway. “So, don’t you dare act like you of all people know better what I can and can’t handle when you never cared before I was useful to you.”

  Grabbing his backpack, Ryan pulled out his phone. It luckily wasn’t a long way to the botanical gardens, so he could just walk and clear his head a bit. Slamming the door behind him, Ryan rushed down the steps and walked out of the building before anyone could call out to him from behind. He grabbed his headphones from his backpack and pulled them over his head, trying to just let everything else fade away. He was so, so mad, and just had to cool down a bit.

  “Sorry you guys had to see that,” Ryan whispered, speaking to the spirits, but they tried to act like nothing was wrong. Except for one.

  [Jester’s Excitement has risen slightly]

  “Go fuck yourself, you sadistic prick.” Ryan pushed away the system window, continuing to walk through the alleyways of Oldtown. He really didn’t need Jester to bother him right now. Fights weren’t the only things that seemed to raise his excitement. Basically, any sort of strong emotion did the job as well. Anything that got Ryan’s heart beating fast. And of course, whenever Ryan got mad, his heart beat like hell. He had been having a bit of a good streak for a while now, so he hadn’t been getting angry just as much recently. Ryan wanted that to continue, but obviously, those things waned and waxed. And right now, it was waxing like hell.

  “Let’s just get this over with,” Ryan grumbled, starting to move into a jog. With the way his awakened stamina was now, he didn’t have to worry about getting out of breath until he reached the botanical gardens. And running helped Ryan clear his mind a little.

  Before long, he reached the park. There were still some people here and there, enjoying the additional lights that were put up there for Porsa’s day in advance as the sun went down. But Ryan was headed straight for the botanical gardens. They should already be closed right now, though, so maybe he was too late. But for some reason, the door was still open, and there weren’t any security guards around either.

  Figuring that maybe they had kept the botanical gardens open for a bit longer today, Ryan went inside and navigated to the spot where Maribelle should be waiting for him right now. But as he walked through the paths in the gardens, he realized that something was off. It was all way too … dark. The paths should be lit by those lanterns at the side.

  Ryan had a bad feeling. He continued walking toward the greenhouse where Maribelle was supposed to live. That place was illuminated due to some of the flowers that grew in there giving off a lot of bioluminescent light. Like following a beacon, Ryan soon stepped into the greenhouse.

  And in the center of the space was a large flower, the original flower that Maribelle had been born from. A viscous black liquid was dripping down the petals, practically sucking in the light that the surrounding flowers were giving off. Sitting atop those petals, like a queen sitting on her crown, was Maribelle, crying black tears as her body was being taken over.

  “Well, well, I figured we might get an interruption, but to think it would be you of all people,” a familiar voice said with genuine surprise. A young gnome stepped out of the darkness.

  “Richie? What are you doing here?” Ryan looked at the gnome, barely recognizing him. Just glancing at him made Ryan’s skin crawl. That slicked-back hair, the way he carried himself. This wasn’t the Richie that Ryan knew. Plus that sparrow pin on his chest. “You work for Bluesky now?”

  “That he does,” someone said from behind Ryan. He had been too distracted by Richie to realize someone was coming up behind him. But now, Ryan turned around and saw another familiar face. One that he couldn’t forget even though he absolutely wanted to. It was the man with half a face covered in burn scars, the gunman who, just a couple weeks ago, had shot Ryan multiple times over in the Channel. And once again, he was pointing a gun at Ryan’s face.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Fighting Back

  Okay, so … what the fuck is going on here exactly?” Ryan asked, trying to suppress a nervous laugh. The man standing in front of him grimaced slightly, as if he was annoyed.

  “Fancy seeing you here. Didn’t think I’d have the pleasure,” the gunman pointed out, his finger tight on the trigger.

  “Yeah, same, I really hoped I would never have to see your ugly fucking mug again.” With a scoff, Ryan turned his head toward Richie. “You seriously work with these guys now? What happened to you?”

  The gnome glanced down at the watch on his wrist. “Hm … I guess we have a bit of time to waste on this.”

  “Are you going to answer me or not?”

  “Rather impatient, aren’t you? Though I assume you aren’t particularly known for your level-headedness,” Richie pointed out, hands clasped behind his back. “Fine, we should have time for three questions. Make them count.”

  Ryan’s mind started to race. He had no idea what was going on right now. During that short call with Richie the other day, he could feel that something was wrong with him, but he figured he would have just been busy at his new job and didn’t have time to chat, but this was completely out of the realm of what Ryan could have expected. Even more so than Kindly did, Richie was giving off an air of corruption like no other. Just looking at him made breathing feel hard. And that wasn’t even mentioning Maribelle, who was currently actively undergoing some kind of corruption. Ryan had to stop it somehow.

  But first … “What are you doing here?”

  “My job. Next question.”

  “What do you know about me?”

  “You’re Ryan Aglecard; you awakened a unique class. You’re extremely violent and brutish, using your natural physical capabilities to enact your own sort of justice. Next.”

  Ryan stared at the gnome, grinding his teeth. He closed his eyes, annoyed. Those two questions were basically enough for Ryan to get a gist of the situation. Richie had been hired by Bluesky. His job was to spread the corruption to spirits for some reason. Did they corrupt him, or … did that spark of corruption from the rampaging Energizer during the Power Duel tournament do this to him? Not that it changed anything about Ryan’s current situation.

  Either way, Richie didn’t know all too much about what was going on yet. Maybe he was filled in on the fact that the Spirit Keeper was an important class, but he probably didn’t know everything about the Aglecards or the White Shadow Society yet. Maybe some surface-level things.

  Ryan could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand up as he got a feeling of what would happen after he asked his third question. He glanced to the side for a moment, mentally watching the spirits prepare as well.

  “Hm …” Ryan started, slightly tilting his head to the side. “You like having all your teeth?”

  Richie’s almost-bored expression turned into a sour grimace as he looked over at the gunman next to Ryan. Just as he had been preparing to, the man pulled the trigger, but Ryan had known this was about to happen and dropped first. As he did and the first bullet passed by over his head, Maximus jumped out of his domain, right onto Ryan’s shoulder. He swung the elemental greatsword at the gunman’s hand, cleanly slicing through his trigger finger and throwing away the gun. The sword wasn’t large enough to properly reach the rest of the man’s hand from where Ryan and Maximus were right now, but that was fine.

  Ryan reached out to try and catch the gun, but it had been flung away too far. Gregor jumped out of his domain and reached out to the gun in Ryan’s stead, throwing it over to him. The moment it lay in Ryan’s hand, he could tell that he wouldn’t be able to use it. It was a mana-locked gun; it needed to read the user’s unique mana signature to be activated, so Ryan wouldn’t be able to use it. So, instead, Tiar came in.

  The gun was torn apart like it was made of paper, quickly turning into the form of Ryan’s dagger with a jagged edge, Ripper. At this point, the gunman was pulling back his hand as blood spewed from his hand. With his other hand, he was instinctively trying to pull out the other gun hanging at his side, some kind of assault rifle. Ryan tried to swing the unfinished Ripper at the gunman, but by then, the man had already built some more distance. Ryan wouldn’t be able to do anything like this. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to close the distance before the man could fire his gun. It was probably loaded and ready to go, just in case.

  The man grimaced in pain as he placed his middle finger onto the trigger of the rifle and got ready to pull. By then, Gaia had stepped out of the domain, and Ryan unsealed her, letting her size double. The bulky Golem wrapped her body around Ryan’s as the man shot at him. Her solid-rock body was strong enough to block the bullets. Though Ryan didn’t like using the noncombatant Gaia as a shield, she was the one who had jumped in the way to make this happen. Maximus and Gregor were pulled back into their domains for the time being. Especially Gregor was useless in a fight right now, since Ryan didn’t have any cannons with him at the moment, so keeping him in the domain as much as possible was preferable.

  By the time the shots stopped, Tiar had fully taken apart the gun and turned it into Ripper. The dagger lay solidly in Ryan’s hand. Using this against a monster was one thing, and using it to defend himself against another person was another. This dagger was specifically made to create deep wounds that would continue bleeding; it was a weapon made to injure and kill. That meant that if Ryan wanted to avoid killing anyone, he had to be extremely careful.