Chapter 119: Coin Flip

Mark stood frozen in the doorway, his eyes fixated on the figure that now stood in front of him.

"So," the man spoke, "what do you need?"

The man spoke, but Mark didn't answer. He couldn't answer…

He just stood there, gazing shakily at the man.

"Mark?" Sera asked him, once she met up with him. "Mark, what's wrong?"

Her question fell on deaf ears as Mark just stared forward and clenched his jaw.

Sera who was still confused decided to stepped forward an spoke instead, offering a polite greeting while he simply stared.

"I'm Sera and he's Mark." She began, "we're passing survivors," she said, when the man at the hall's center raised an eyebrow toward them. "We're looking for shelter, and any information you might have on nearby Gateways."

"Elias," the man said, giving a welcoming smile, and extending a hand toward Sera first, then toward Mark, who managed to shake it despite the dazed look in his eyes. "Faction leader here, as you may have guessed."

"How long do you plan on staying?"

"A few days," she replied, "three at most."

Elias nodded, then replied. "You're welcome to stay, provided you're willing to contribute where needed. We're not short on space, but we are short on hands."

"We can contribute," Sera said, when Mark still hadn't fully found a way to speak.

"Good. I'll have someone show you to available quarters." Elias studied Mark a moment longer, something faint like a smile crossing his face at the younger man's continued silence, before apparently deciding not to say anything thing about it. "Rest first. We can discuss other things properly once you've settled."

A guard led them to a modest room near the compound's edge, and the moment the door closed behind them, Sera turned to Mark immediately.

"Okay. What was that? You didn't say a single word in there."

Mark exhaled slowly, sinking down onto the edge of the bed, still visibly shaken. "It's nothing."

"It's clearly not nothing." Her expression then softened as she studied his face. "Mark… are you sure you're okay? You can talk to me if you're—"

"Sera, please." He cut her off. "Just… give me a minute." His voice carried none of its usual deflecting humor, just a soft tone that she didn't seem to like. "I'll explain. Just not right now."

She studied him a long moment, concern plain on her face, before deciding to let it go for now. "Okay. Whenever you're ready."

***

Miles away, Eleanor pocketed the last of the harvested meat and continued walking, her boots crunching against fallen leaves, when the ground ahead of her shifted and erupted.

[Ding!]

[Warning: Bora Class Entity Detected]

[You have encountered a Bora Golem.]

[Objective: Slay the Beast.]

[Survival Probability: 44%]

A Bora tore free from beneath the ground, and Eleanor barely got her blade up in time, flame igniting as she deflected the creature's first strike, the impact rattling through her arms and pushing her back.

'Alright. Mark isn't here to distract the beast, Lucas isn't here to give me a plan. It's just me.'

She'd fought worse odds than this before, though rarely without backup, and she forced herself to think through the fight properly instead of relying on instinct alone.

The Bora circled as if testing her defenses with strikes that forced her to defend.

Eleanor gave ground deliberately, studying its movements for the same patterns she had learned across a dozen prior encounters.

She dodged another strike and watched as the beast prepared for another attack.

She then remembered something Lucas told her during one if their fights… 'Left… it favours it's left side.'

She let it commit to the strike, then pivoted hard, driving a burning slash across its exposed flank the instant its weight shifted wrong.

They clashed a few times, and the beast swiped at her prompting her to block with her blade.

She hissed. Even though she blocked it, she could still feel the pain it brought.

She dashed forward and managed to cut the beast, and the creature shrieked, staggering, and Eleanor pressed forward before it could recover, water lashing out from a nearby puddle to freeze solid against its leg, anchoring it in place for just a brief moment.

It wasn't enough on its own. The Bora tore free of the ice with brute force, its tail lashing wide, and Eleanor barely rolled clear, mud smearing her clothes as she scrambled back to her feet.

'Think. It's fast, it's strong, but it's not smart. Use that.'

Her eyes darted around the beast. Without Mark to draw it's attention away from her, finding an opening proved harder than she thought…

She feinted left, drawing its attention, then cut hard right the instant its attention fully shifted, driving her blade deep into the same wound she'd already opened.

The creature's shriek climbed to something desperate, and Eleanor didn't let up, striking again and again until it finally collapsed, motionless, into the churned earth.

She stood over the carcass for a long moment, her chest heaving, and her blade extinguishing as exhaustion settled fully into her limbs.

"Alone's harder," she muttered, wiping sweat from her forehead.

She pressed on regardless, the terrain gradually shifting ahead into something cleaner— a worn path, signs that the path had been walked on, and eventually, rising against the horizon, the silhouette of fortified walls.

'A Faction Zone,' she exclaimed, eyes wide, 'Maybe someone here knows something useful.'

The guards at the gate studied her carefully before waving at her to pass through, and as she was led to a central hall, she was met with warm light spilling from within, and a man rose from a low, chair as she entered, dark hair swept back, grey eyes assessing her with curiosity.

"A new arrival," he said, already reaching into his coat pocket, bringing out a coin. "I assume you're looking for shelter as well?"

She nodded.

"Well then, Let's see what fate has to say about you, shall we?"