Level-Up Apocalypse: Surviving With The Assimilation System

The smell of coffee grounds greeted his nose, bringing him to blink as he found himself sitting at a table. It was a cafe he was familiar with; while it wasn't empty, it was just busy enough to provide a comfortable atmosphere.

"You sure like this place, don't you? I'm not much of a coffee guy myself."

The remark came from the man seated across from him, who sipped from his cup of fresh, warmly-brewed coffee before sticking out his tongue in playful disgust.

"Damian," Finn quietly said, feeling as though he had just woken up, lightly rubbing his head. "Yeah, I like this place just fine. I came here a lot during my time in university. It was never very busy, so I could focus here–the coffee isn't bad either."

Damian laughed softly, "Here I would've thought the first thing you'd judge a cafe on would be its coffee. Guess I'm not really the expert here, though."

"Yeah, you're right," Finn said with a small laugh of his own.

Though there were others in the cafe, he could hardly even make them out; they were just blurs, their conversations nothing more than white noise–though he didn't mind it.

"How've you been holding up, man? Don't take it the wrong way, but you look like you've seen better days," Damian asked genuinely, setting his mug down on the table.

"I've been…I'm not sure, really," Finn answered, looking at the table as if that'd somehow help him find a definitive answer.

"Oh, come on. Would it kill you to give me a straight answer?" Damian pressed.

"Lay off, man. I don't want to think. It kind of hurts to think right now," Finn tiredly said, rubbing his face.

Sitting there in silence for a moment, a feverish feeling overcame him, exuding sweat and breathing heavily.

"Hey, you're bleeding from your nose," Damian pointed out.

Finn raised his hand, touching just above his lip as the warmth of the liquid was felt. As he checked his fingers, the black blood met his sight.

"--Ah."

His eyes shot open as the ambience of the relaxing cafe vanished, finding himself instead laying on the grass. Above him, those hanging mountains peered back down at him, reminding him of where he truly was.

'Right…a dream,' he tiredly thought.

He picked himself up with a quiet yawn, finding it to already be a new day as the inexplicable sunlight from an unseen sun provided a tranquil dawn. There was a light fog in the vale, with a sprinkle coming down.

"Morning."

Finn looked across the campsite to find that he wasn't the only one awake, seeing Magnus sitting boredly by a tree.

"Morning," Finn responded. "Have you been up all night?"

"Only a couple hours. We took turns keeping watch," Magnus answered.

"Right," Finn said, tiredly rubbing his face before grabbing a canteen of water, taking a quick sip to alleviate his dry mouth.

"I'm just thankful that nothing went wrong during the night. Being truthful, it didn't seem like all that wise of an idea to sleep out here in the open. Though it's not like we had much of a choice," Magnus admitted.

"Yeah, you're right about that," Finn agreed.

It wasn't often he got to talk to Magnus alone. Though he found the man to be veracious to a fault, usually questioning him, he didn't hold it against him. Finn found that in a one-on-one conversation, it was much easier to speak to the usually contrarian figure.

"You talk quite a bit in your sleep, you know," Magnus told him.

"I do?" Finn responded, a bit surprised by the claim, though not entirely surprised.

"I wasn't trying to listen, but it's not like I had much of a choice," Magnus said.

"Sorry about that, then," Finn apologized, fixing the laces on his boots along with tightening his gloves to wake himself up properly.

Magnus clarified, "I wasn't bothered by it. I just wanted you to know, since it sounded like you were talking to a friend in your sleep–never heard you quite that jovial before."

"Really? I don't remember what I was even dreaming about," Finn said, attempting to recall, but only pulling up a blank memory.

The soft rainfall delicately fell on his face as he looked towards the mountainous scenery above, feeling a certain warmth still lingering inside of him.

'All I can recall is that it was a pretty nice dream,' he thought.

With the light of a new day, it wasn't long before the others woke up as well, sharing in a breakfast made of the leftovers from the felled rabbit. It wasn't an inspiring meal, though one that got the job done.

Taking a bite out of the cooked rabbit leg while walking, Jasper swallowed before speaking up, "So, how far do you reckon we are from that castle?"

"It's looked the same distance since we first came here. Honestly, I wondered if we were even getting closer," Charlotte admitted looking at the faraway structure.

Through the woods of the vale, there was a subtle trail, paved only periodically by stone, with lightless torches hung on trees. It was at least a sign; a guide in the stretch of wildlands. The further they traveled north through the vale, the more obscured the sky became; the peaks of the mountains along with the countless trees blocked it off.

"If there's any rhyme or reason to this place and that's assuming a lot, I'll admit, then following this path should lead us there soon enough," Magnus pointed out with a tired exhale.

Finn walked at the front, watching the light mist alongside the glistening morning dew that clung to the sides of the neighboring cliff sides. Beside him, Charlotte kept up with his pace, keeping her hands tucked behind her back.

He found himself feeling her gaze on him for an uncomfortable amount of time before looking over, confirming that she was indeed staring at him.

Charlotte spoke up right as he looked at her, "How're you feeling? Yesterday you seemed sort of out of it."

"Yeah, I'm better today though, so don't worry. A full night of rest did wonders. Thanks for that," Finn assured her with a small smile.

A light tap to the shoulder brought him to look to his right, seeing Jasper catching up to match his pace.

"Rest is king, mate. In times like these, good sleep is golden," Jasper said chipperly as rain pattered against his silver helmet.

"Don't take it from him," Magnus added from behind, hiking over the jutting-out roots of the soil. "When it was time to switch turns watching, it took half an hour to finally wake up this snoring buffoon."

"Hey, mate–I'm a heavy sleeper, what can I say?" Jasper played off with a laugh.

"That's not something to be proud of. It'll get you killed if you were alone," Magnus remarked.

Jasper stepped through a muddy puddle, shrugging his shoulders, "If a monster came at me while I'm asleep, I'll jump up and turn it into dinner in the blink of an eye. I've just got honed instincts like that, mate."

"Are you some kind of ninja now?" Finn jokingly asked.

"Ha-ha! It's the truth, mate! I normally sleep like a log, but If there's danger near me, I hop up like spring chicken," Jasper assured.

The explanation that was hard to discern if it was purely a joke or mixed with some truth by the knight stirred a laugh from Charlotte, though Magnus was not so quick to entertain it.

"Well, I'll try smacking you with a stick next time you're asleep then to confirm that," Magnus said.

"Try it, mate, and I'll stick my sword right up your arse," Jasper retorted.

The bickering between the cannoneer and knight was cut short as the woodsy vale led to a peculiar way forward; an entire mountain blocked the path, only with a passage going straight through it welcoming them in.

A pair of lanterns were stationed on the thresholds of the entrance into the mountain tunnel, with fireflies swaying in the leaf-shaded front.

"Looks like this is the way forward," Finn said, staring into the lightless passage.

"It looks…unwelcoming," Charlotte observed with some hesitation.

Admittedly, the cobwebs that clung to the wooden frame set around the rocky entrance didn't help either. It didn't help any more that the skulls of what looked to be deer and cattle were strung up by the webs.

"Doesn't look like this place gets regular maintenance," Magnus sarcastically remarked.

Entering the mountain tunnel led into a rather sprawling cave that expanded to a vast scope. It was filled with light, though not through the presence of lanterns or torches.

Growths of cerulean crystals lined the walls, providing an ethereal glow to the cavern. Finn walked forward, finding that it led directly onto a natural bridge of slick stone, with either side leading to a drop into a cavern lake.

"Watch your step," Finn warned, peering over the edge.

"No kidding. Not trying to take a bath down there," Jasper said, standing beside him while gazing down as well.