The Gamer's System

Chapter 199: Nightmares and Healing Wounds

"I'm not done!" Jake said, fighting through the waves of [Conjures] with only a single spear on hand.

Blood covered his body and he felt numb all over. His armor was torn and shattered but his fighting spirit was as high as it could get. 

Jake then gazed upwards. On top of the valley of [Conjures], there sat Samael. Idly watching the scene as if the human was boring for him.

"Come down here and face me yourself!" He declared. Destroying the numerous [Conjures] at the foot of the hill as he tried getting up. 

It was a stiff climb. One which could not be done because no matter how hard he tried, the [Conjures] just kept coming.

"Fine. I'll force you down." Jake declared as he activated [Impale]. Raining down spears on the lesser [Conjures] which screamed as they died one by one. 

Yet things didn't simply end here. With all of the [Conjures] taken down, their bodies got consumed by flames. Rising from their ashes and turning into [Infernals]. This made Jake's eyes widen in horror. His body remembering the cruel experience from them all too well.

"Get away from me! No! No!" The creatures came at him like hunger-stricken beasts. They didn't care about the damage nor was it at all significant. They ran toward him. Burying Jake's body within the pile of burning [Infernals].

"NOOO!"

Jake woke up hearing his own scream as he rose from bed. He had cold sweat running on his head and he felt his heartbeat being paced. So was his breathing that felt like he just ran from a marathon around the world.

"It was a dream." He declared, getting back down and trying to get his thoughts together.

Everything came back to him like a haunting memory. How he was so boastful in front of Zeke, declaring that he could take down the monster which Zeke decided not to use. This gave them a larger problem. One which they were not able to overcome as, Samael led the charge together with Kezel. Wreaking havoc and mercilessly destroying the elites.

"It's all my fault." Jake told himself. 

Never has the human felt as weak and as incompetent as he was at that moment. Zeke's words rang on his ears quite clearly. One which the gamer said before all of them lost consciousness.

"I have no need for trash on my team." 

At that time, they were beaten down. Most of their bones were broken and they had fatal wounds all over. The smell of burning flesh surrounded them while screams of agony also resounded. 

It was a massacre. A fight which was more devastating than anything they've ever experienced. Even Slytherin couldn't compare to what they've gone through because of Zeke. In fact, it was so traumatizing that just by remembering it, Jake felt his body shiver in fear. 

Yet, none of these physical wounds hurt them more than the words he uttered.

Jake knew that this was the truth. That they were trash because they couldn't even handle the [Conjures] created by Zeke. This made him feel sorrier for himself. He let this feeling consume him. Wanting nothing more than to simply vanish from all the shame he caused to his comrades.

Yet things didn't go as he planned. His door banged open surprising the javelin user who wanted to be left alone.

"Hey are you up asshole!" Curio began, accompanied by Mordred who still had one of her arms on a sling. It was heavily damaged, to the point that Zeke was the one who needed to cure her. Yet the gamer refused to do so. This same woman looked at Jake closely and had a smile on her face as she spoke.

"Hey is our little Jake crying?" She teased, looking at the sorry expression on the human's face.

"What? Who'd be crying you idiot." Jake said in reply. Wiping his eyes which almost had the tears running down his cheeks.

"Oh this is golden! HAHAHA!" Mordred began bellowing in laughter and Curio wasn't one to shy away from doing the same.

"My arm is feeling better already!" She furthered; trying to move it and regretting the decision immediately as a jolting pain ran through her body. Making her drop to the ground which made Curio laugh at her next.

"Man, it sure is nice getting idiots like you on the team." The assassin remarked. 

Jake didn't know what to make of the situation. Yet without him noticing it, his mind was actually being taken away from the depressing thoughts that he had earlier. Forced to focus on the antics of Mordred and the bullying of Curio.

"Why are you guys here exactly?" Jake asked.

"Well you see, unlike a certain someone who wants to cry in his room all day, we've decided to begin training again." Mordred said, already back to her feet and having a wide smile on her face.

"I wasn't crying!" Jake defended. Completely ignoring the other part of the conversation which was much more important.

"Yeah sure." Both Curio and Mordred replied. As if it was a skit they prepared for.

"Anyway, pick up your weapon already. We need to get stronger if we want to beat those things." Mordred commanded, throwing a training spear at Jake who had his original weapon destroyed.

"But aren't we already discarded from the team?" Jake replied.

"And?" Said Curio.

"What of it?" Mordred added.

"What do you mean: 'what of it'? We aren't part of his team anymore. What's the point of training?" Jake argued.

"Well, I mean it's not like we were stripped of our lives or anything. He just took us off the team meaning, we can still look for Quinn and do what it is that we want." Mordred said.

"And for that to happen. We need to get stronger. That's the payback we can give to Mr. Zeke who decided to discard such precious talents as us." Curio furthered. 

The reasoning was simple enough. So much so that Jake himself couldn't' help but laugh as he looked at the two. 

All they said was true. It was only Jake that thought too much about it; relying on Zeke like some kind of assurance of both their safety and victory. Discarding the fact that, even before he came, the elites have decided to handle Mythos on their own.

*Sigh*

"Okay let's get going then." Jake had his usual smile back on his face.

One which declared that he was the strongest. Something which gladdened the pair which visited him. They got him back and, in such a shape that nothing of the events yesterday seemed to matter to him at the moment.

They hurried to the nearest training room; wanting to begin right away. Yet, to their surprise, every other member of the elites was there. With food being distributed by Heron. Reminding the three that they themselves haven't even eaten breakfast yet.

"What are you guys doing here?" They asked.

"What do you mean? We're going to train of course." Gerard said in reply, munching on the food provided by Heron who spoke next.

"Master is still fast asleep in his room. I suggest you eat all of this before he wakes up because, I'm not entirely sure if he'd even allow you to eat anything from our resources." Heron said, showing the food on her basket and getting an immediate response.

"Fooood!" Mordred wasn't one to shy away from the offer. 

She was hungry and didn't even go to the pantry; thinking that this would be shameful of her after the event. The same was through with Curio and, Jake just woke up so he hasn't gotten any chance to eat yet.

There was still a look of loneliness that couldn't be hidden on the face of the elites. Something which Heron observed closely. 

It wasn't possible for them to suddenly skyrocket out of the slump they've fallen. They needed to pick themselves up as carefully as needed and rise from their ashes stronger than before. That's why Zeke gave her the instructions of tending to them and act like this was being done in secret.

"Everyone." Jake suddenly stood up; getting the attention of everyone in the training room. There were words that needed to be told and he knew that he needed to take this off his chest.

"Please forgive me for my rash actions yesterday." He said, bowing his head down which surprised Heron. 

"My, if only master could see this now. He does grow faster than the others." Heron thought to herself. Smiling as the elites didn't know how to respond.

They had mixed emotions about Jake. Some of them even blamed him for their defeat in the last fight. Yet with what he was doing, they didn't know if it was right to continue bearing a grudge against him. 

It was Kaguya who finally responded to this. Bearing the title of their leader, she needed to rally everyone after all. So, she stood up and did the same thing. Bowing her head and apologizing to everyone who were caught in even more surprise.

"Forgive me. If only I was a more able leader and tactician, things could've gone better for us. Don't just put the blame on Jake. Place it on me because I should be the one leading us all to victory."

Because of this, the elites didn't have any right to get angry anymore. With even Kaguya apologizing, they realized that they were also at fault. Finally accepting that the loss was also due to their own incompetence and weaknesses. 

Heron herself was happy. They were recovering better than she expected. At first she thought that there would be a thick air of depression covering them. But with what both Kaguya and Jake did, she knew that getting back up would be easier now.

"Ahh cut that out will ya. We're all at fault here anyway so sit down." Mordred said, voicing out the thoughts of every other member who were too shy to speak their mind.

With this, the group continued eating. In a lighter mood than before. With laughs actually being shared this time around. Right after finishing and resting for a bit, Heron finally left the elites to themselves. Hearing Kaguya's energetic command before she closed the door.

"LET'S BEGIN!"