The Earth After Rebirth

"Nikolai, what's wrong?"

"You guys went radio silent for 5 days, so I thought I'd imagined the whole thing."

"Haha, oh no, after the labyrinth we took a break, the break was so good, that it was extended, unintentionally."

"Have you been to the base? It's pretty amazing."

"Not yet, we're headed to mine. Hiro is a craftsman, so he needs materials if we need him to make us stuff." He looked at Hiro who was minding his own business, then whispered, "for free."

Hiro heard that regardless, and chuckled.

"Okay, I'm on my way. Challenging a dungeon on my own would be pretty stupid anyway."

"We'll wait by the mouth of the mine then."

They walked through a plain field. Both of them were grateful there wasn't a forest. They've had too much of forests to last them a lifetime.

A lot of players could be seen challenging world bosses. A world boss appeared outside a dungeon, it wasn't as dangerous but it could kill arrogant players.

"Hey! Don't attack so recklessly while I'm in front of the boss!"

"What, you think I can't control my own magic?"

Many players suffered from not being able to sync up with each other, since they weren't used to each other's fighting style. So bickering amongst themselves was a pretty normal thing.

World bosses appeared once in a while, there wasn't a pattern, nobody knew when it would appear. So usually the lazy players who don't do dungeon runs would wait around for one. It was worth it though, as the rewards for world bosses were more. They were divided by contribution too, not equally.

"Can I ask you something?" Hiro suddenly said.

"Shoot buddy."

"Do you know Isaac? I mean, prior to the academy. The anger you feel for him feels like something that's been accumulated for years."

Kiro's heart stopped dead in its tracks. 'How perceptive.' Should he just tell him? Would he believe him if he did?

He laughed nervously, "I'm actually from the future. I died before, and regressed. I have no idea how, or why."

Hiro stopped walking, and gave him a weird look, "how imaginative, you could've just said you don't want to talk about it you know."

'BUT I'M TELLING YOU THE TRUTH?' Kiro screamed internally.

He sighed, and opted for another truth, "I just hate his kind. People who think everyone is beneath them because of some riches their family has. Besides, he beat us black and blue, why wouldn't my anger for him feel like a thousand years worth?"

"Yeah, I suppose that's true. Aren't you afraid he'll rope your family into it?"

"He can try. If he succeeds I can only rain calamity on his family." Kiro said these words, with undiluted confidence.

And because of that, Hiro couldn't help but believe him. They walked the rest of the way in silence, it wasn't awkward or anything. Each were thinking of how to deal with Isaac if he were to decide to take this fight to the real world.

They finally got to the mouth of the mine. Some goblins were there. At the sight of intruders, the goblins raised their weapons and pushed forward to kill the unwelcomed guests.

As many as there were, they were massacred because they were just level 20 monster fodder in the presence of the two. They couldn't do much in front of absolute power even with numbers.

Even Hiro with his low agility was able to hold his own. He had his axe, and he was absolutely abusing the low level monsters.

They dropped some pretty average equipment, so along with that rare shield. Kiro put them in the auction.

"Remember when we Levelled up with every kill? Now we just killed 50+ goblins but nothing." Hiro solemnly commented.

"With great power, comes slow progress. Unfortunately." They both laughed.

Hiro nodded, "wise. Very wise."

Nikolai arrived and was bummed that he arrived after they had defeated the enemies. He'd never really seen the duo in action before and he'd love to. Sure he watched the video circulating online, but he didn't consider that a fight, as it was too one-sided.

They entered the mines. There were a lot of routes. It was dark, cold and smelled damp. The ground was gravel so it made a lot of noise as they walked. Hiro took out a torch from his mining starter pack. It wasn't much but at least they could see where they were going.

The walls were obsidian. Like the mine was put under hot extreme pressure. They reached the inner walls of one route where they could mine. It was dimly lit.

They could barely see anything, they each bought flashlights that came with a protective head gear.

So, they started their mining spree. They used Hiro's beginner tools for it. It was expensive upgrading them, so they didn't bother.

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