“The winner is Rein Alister!!”

A wide grin grew on his face, followed by a sigh of relief. He looked over at Core, who was smiling at him.

“Well, a deal’s a deal. I’ll take you to this guy I know… Right after I give this dish of yours a try.” Said Core, with another rare glint of happiness in his usually dead eyes.

“You said you have eternal youth… So you’re not actually as young as you look?”

“Nope, I’m actually 20 years old. Stopped aging at around 15 due to my eternal youth. Pretty hard to believe by just lookin at me though. I became the group leader when I was about 14 years old. After your old man killed mine.” He informed him as he took a plate of Rein’s dish.

“Hold up, slow the fuck down. My dad killed yours? So the ones who attacked him in the Elven Forest were Checkmate?” Rein said, his pupils growing smaller.

“Yeah, he used the same attack that your sister used. Took my father out with all of his troops. My father’s death gave me control of a shit ton of troops. A perfect position for someone with my Spring, don’t you think? Ever since I found out about my Spring, all I’ve been doing is theory battle training. Improving my battle knowledge was all I could do after all. It’s funny though, I’m the leader of a mercenary group, but by myself I’m useless,” immense sadness could be seen in his eyes.

“You… Who the hell are you? Why are you even doing this? I don’t get it… Your actions, they just don’t make sense,” Rein looked at him with an icy glare, trying to psycho-analyze him.

“Heh, maybe so… but…” He took a bite of the dish. “Holy shit this is delicious! Man, and I really thought I had a chance.” Rein was curious as to what he would’ve said if he had finished his first sentence, continuing to think about it for the next few minutes.

Rein sat quietly at the campfire and thought deeply about his situation, glancing over at Core every once in a while, who seemed to let a turmoiled expression slip through his facade every few moments. Emria eventually finished her food, and the sunset began looming over them, filling the sky with an orange light, then slowly dissipating into pitch darkness. After they finished, Core told them where Rein could get his arm fixed. He pointed towards the forest behind them, full of ginormous trees being covered in the darkness of the peering night.

“That’s the Elven Forest. In the elf village in the center of the forest, there’s a man who lives with his daughter who’s about Greeny’s age. He has a Spring that as long as you have the limb, he can reattach it good as new. He still owes me, so I’m sure he’d be happy to heal you up.” Core said, packing up and heading back to the horse-drawn carriage.

“He owes you? Didn’t Checkmate attack the forest when my dad was there?” Asked Rein, making Core grow silent. He looked down, his grip tightening around the horse’s leash.

“Haha, it’s a bit more complicated than that. Just like this time…” He said, putting up a facade of happiness, laughing to hide his emotions, making Rein grow ever more suspicious of what he said, comparing it to ‘this time’.

Rein ceased his line of questioning and held his suspicions, boarding the back of the cart with Emria and Core. D8 whipped the carriage into motion, and they began heading for the Elven Village.

“I don’t get it Core… You’re being so nice to us… You’re taking us to get Rein’s arm fixed… Why did you attack our village? It doesn’t make any sense…” Asked Emria, wanting to understand Core, who endangered them, yet saved them.

“Yeah… Sorry, I can’t really explain it to you. It’s just… something I have to do.”

“Why though… Why’d big sis Leo have to die… Why’d my mom had to die?” Emria weepingly spoke through her tears as she started crying.

“… Your mom was in that group of escaped villagers right? I’m really sorry about that. I didn’t mean to implicate anyone outside the village. Those heartless bastards don’t know how to show mercy. As for Alister’s sister…” He didn’t say anything after. He stopped talking, and all that could be heard were Emria’s soft cries.

“Hearless bastards? You’re one to talk,” Rein remarked, turning Core’s attention to him, saddening his expression.

“Yeah, I guess I’m one too,” he replied.

“I’m sorry *sniff*, I know you didn’t mean for mom to die.” Emria softly spoke. Rein sat there in sorrow, listening to his little sister cry about the tragedy that just befell. He found it strange that she hadn’t cried about it until now, but he realized that she was too worried about him to cause him any more trouble. He hugged her, comforting her until she stopped crying.

“Sorry…” Core mumbled inaudibly while inspecting Rein’s swords. A few minutes passed, filled with utter silence. Nobody made eye contact, they were looking at the moonlit forest around them as they rode. Core broke the silence, sparking a conversation.

“Hey Alister, one of these swords was used by one of our dressed-up soldiers correct? The one that was thrust in your sister’s shoulder.” He said, changing the subject.

“… Yes, why’s that necessary for you to know?” Rein stated angrily, clenching his fist tightly.

“I see…”

“What were you guys talking about when miss D8 and I got back from Daster? You both looked like you’d seen a ghost.” Asked Emria curiously, drying the last of her tears.

“…” Core was silent, unsure whether Rein wanted to talk about it or not.

“We were talking about the power I used back in Lifah. When I killed those Orthlys soldiers.” Said Rein, not wanting to hide anything from Emria.

“Oh yeah! The ground started shaking, and all of a sudden, you were super fast!”

“Greeny, you manifested a Spring, right? What is it? After you manifest a Spring, all the knowledge about it should come to you automatically.” Core informed her.

“My Spring? Hmmm, oh! You’re right, I do know! When I activate my Spring, I get really strong defenses, but my speed is reduced by a ton. Almost to the point that I can’t move. That’s why I couldn’t escape that burning house using my Spring. Also, I can make people in a certain radius of me also have super defense, but they don’t become slow. That’s how Rein was able to carry me out without being super slow!” She explained, almost like she was reading off a script.

Core looked over at Rein with his eyes widened. “Greeny, did ya notice anything about Rein’s Spring that stuck out to you?”

“Umm… Oh, when his arm flew off. That was really weird. I don’t think that Prince guy’s attack directly hit him. It’s almost like Rein’s skin turned into buffalo butter.” Emria stated, which made Rein realize what Core was thinking.

“I see. I think I manifested to a Spring directly opposite to yours Emria. Maybe because I was in contact with you at the time.” Rein said, thinking back to the dream he had, and the name “Inverse System” that he wasn’t able to say out loud. Emria looked at him with confusion.

“I don’t really get it, but you’re saying you have the opposite of my Spring? That’s so cool! But wait, why are you talking like you don’t already know? Like Core said, the know-how about your Spring should just come naturally!” She said enthusiastically.

“Actually Alister, I disagree with your theory.” Objected Core.

“Huh? You disagree with what exactly?” Rein questioned, slightly raising his voice.

“Think about it. If that was the case, why hasn’t the information come into your head like it did with Greeny? My theory is that you can copy the opposite of any Spring, as long as you make contact with the user. Maybe a fluctuating Spring like that would take longer to learn, so the information still hasn’t entered your head yet,” Core boldly exclaimed.

Just as Rein heard Core say that, he felt like he finally understood this power he awakened to. Even though there wasn’t any conclusive evidence, what Core said awakened a dormant knowledge in Reins subconscious that told him that what Core said was correct. It wasn’t a simple Spring, it was something more.

“Though it is really weird that you haven’t received any information about your Spring… Hmm…” Core looked closely at Rein’s face, who began sweating as Core became more and more suspicious of the power.

Core’s thought process was interrupted with a sudden jerk forward as the carriage came to a swift halt.

“Master Core, we have arrived.”