The Ultimate Regressor System

Three days passed at the fortress, and the dullness clinging to Eleanor had become impossible for anyone to ignore.

She still carried out her duties, but something essential had gone missing from the way she carried herself. She spoke less, she smiled less, her attention often drifted off during conversations, and More than once, Mark had caught her simply staring at the edge of the courtyard, as it expecting the gateway to reopen and Lucas walking out...

He was watching her from a distance again now with arms crossed, worry etched into his face, when Iris approached and stood quietly beside him.

"Is he actually still alive?" she asked, just like that, because she knew a preamble would be useless.

Mark stayed silent for a moment and exhaled slowly. "I don’t know honestly. Probably not. Falling into a ravine, after everything that fight put him through..." He shook his head. "Taking the possibility of exhaustion into account, I doubt it if I’m being real with you."

Iris looked at him, about to speak when Mark spoke again.

"But something in me still thinks he’s fine." Mark said with a smile. "Call it stupid optimism, I don’t know. Some part of me just refuses to accept that something as simple as a fall finally got him, after everything else he’s survived."

Iris was quiet a long moment, arms wrapped around herself as she replied.

"I keep thinking about how much he’s done for us," she said finally, her voice quieter than usual. "He’s spent all the time in this hell keeping people alive, and I never once got the chance to actually help him back. No matter how many times a beast threatened to kill us. It’s just been him, calling every single shot and making sure no one got hurt and us following."

She exhaled, frustration bleeding through the words. "I hate it. I hate that I couldn’t do anything for him at all. And for some reason, I hate the idea of not being close to him..."

She didn’t lie. Ever since they got back, there had been this emptiness that nobody could ignore. Iris had come to realize, though stubbornly, that she had gotten too used to being near Lucas.

"Pyra feels the same," Iris said quietly. "She’s been quieter than usual too. And Lora—" she shook her head. "Lora’s barely spoken since we got back."

She spoke again. "I came over here hoping you’d tell me something that would make easier," Iris admitted. "Some piece of information or some reason to actually believe he’s fine instead of just hoping for it. I know it sounds stupid but I’m allowed to be a little greedy."

Mark replied, and managed something closer to his usual grin as he spoke. "Honestly, if I know Lucas even a tiny bit as well as I think I do, he’s probably out there right now being an absolute menace to something twice his size. Bro’s basically allergic to staying down."

That earned a faint laugh from Iris. "You really believe that?"

"I have to," Mark said. "Because the alternative isn’t something I want to think about.."

They stood together in silence after that, believing that somewhere out there, Lucas was doing better than they hoped...

***

Lucas ran.

His lungs burned, his legs screamed, and his injuried hand wasn’t making it any better.

However, he kept moving, his boots skidding across stone as the Bora crashed through the floor behind him in a place that was too close for comfort.

’Of course. OF COURSE give me a beast to fight at the worse possible moment. Cause that’s fair!’

The beast had picked up his trail hours ago, he had lost count exactly how many times the beast could have smashed him to bits.

His rations of the last of the Hestia meat he’d carved and carried were gone now, and exhaustion had settled into his limbs in a way that made every stride feel like moving through cement.

"Why won’t you just give up?!" he shouted, voice cracking with exhaustion, and the Bora answered with a shriek that sounded furious as it rolled into a ball and thundered towards him.

"Wow you’re mad now..."

He ducked around a jagged outcrop, using it to buy a few seconds of distance, and pressed his good hand hard against his ribs, gasping, forcing air into lungs that felt like it was about to burst.

[Ignition] flickered weakly around his fist, unreliable as it has always been, and Lucas forced himself upright despite his body practically screaming at him to stay down.

’One arm, weak flames, and a beast that’s been chasing me the whole day...Wonderful. Love this for me.’

The Bora rounded the outcrop a moment later, and Lucas didn’t wait for it aa he threw himself forward instead, driving his one working fist into its exposed underside the instant it prepared to strike, flame catching against the joint where its armor plating gave way to softer flesh.

The creature shrieked, staggering, and Lucas pressed the advantage with everything his exhausted body had left, driving another burning strike into the same wound, then another, refusing to give it the chance to recover its footing.

It lunged one final time, desperate and wild, and Lucas twisted aside, driving his fist up into its throat as it passed, flame finally roaring fully as he hit with everything his body had left to offer.

The Bora collapsed, twitching, and finally went still.

"Hah—"

Lucas sank to his knees beside the carcass, chest heaving, and his body shaking with exhaustion.

"Finally," he wheezed. "Finally, oh my god, finally."

He allowed himself to simply stay there breathing before forcing himself back onto his feet, carving what meat he could manage one-handed from the creature’s body.

Just like the first time, the process was slow and clumsy and considerably messier than it needed to be.

He tucked what he could into his coat pocket, cooked a piece with his flames, and ate it before he continued moving.

’Okay...Okay. Find a way out of this ravine before something worse finds me first.’

He couldn’t afford to die here. Besides, if he died, here who knows where [Regression] would take him back to?

That was something he didn’t want to think about.

He kept walking, and the ravine walls finally becoming narrow giving way to gentle slopes and greens.

By the time he finally came out, exhaustion had worn him down completely as every step forward felt like his legs would tear off any moment from now...

The terrain opened ahead to forest and hills, and in the distance, rising against the horizon, Lucas caught sight of familiar shapes: walls, watchtowers, the unmistakable silhouette of structure carved out of the wilderness.

[Ding!]

[You have reached a Faction Zone.]

He stood there for a long moment staring at the distant walls with exhaustion and hope.

"Please," he muttered, "please let there be actual people there. Nice ones, ideally. I really don’t think I’m in the mood for some kind of plot twist."

He walked towards the gate and stood in front of it for a long moment before placing his hand on the gate.

The moment he walked inside, every eye locked on him. Different people from different places stood there wondering where this battered stranger came from.

Lucas scanned the area, carefully taking notes of the people. As far as he could tell, they wasn’t anybody staring at him with lifeless eyes.

’Okay... the people here look normal. That’s—that’s a good sign...’

He took a few catious steps inside but was stopped when someone—presumably a guard called out to him.

"Hold."

He turned.

In front of him was a man who looked like he was in his thirties. He stood fairly tall with a shaved and held a spear in one hand.

He looked at Lucas with an expression that looked more like someone that had found an insect in his room.

"Who are you, and what are you looking for?"

"My name is Lucas. I got separated from my Faction." He answered calmly. "I’ve been injured, so I was hoping I could get it looked at..."

Silence hung there for a moment as the guard eyed him from head to toe, accessing the battered young man before replying: "You’ll need to speak with our Leader. Come with me."

’Lord? So it’s just one guy...’ A wave of relief washed over him as he thought that.

Normal looking people and one leader. And from the looks of it, whoever this leader was treated his people pretty well.

This was a very good sign...

As they walked, Lucas glanced around the courtyard mentally taking notes of where he was.

This place was large, larger than what he expected one man to build.

He looked towards the edge of the camp and realised that he couldn’t even see the faction walls.

’This place is huge...’ he thought a bit surprised.

The courtyard was covered in stone, not a blade of grass in sight.

The people moved through the day with not a hint of anxiety on their faces, like they had forgotten that their were in a world where everything could probably kill them.

The towers themselves were fortified with weapons and people stationed there, watching the world outside the walls, and preparing to kill any beast brave enough to pass over.

Lucas blinked. ’Well, that explains why no one’s bothered...’

They walked for some time before they reached a structure with a large wooden door that towered over them.

The man went forward and pushed it open revealing a dark corridor that was dimly lit with candles on both sides.

He stepped inside and gestured for Lucas to follow which he did.

They walked towards the opening at the end of the hall, their boots tapping against the tiled floor beneath them.

Lucas followed closely behind the man, still clutching his injured shoulder as they made it into the hall at the end of the corridor.

Lucas squinted his eyes as the light there was considerably brighter.

"That’s far enough."

A voice called out to him and he stopped on pure instinct.

His vision swam due the brightness of the room leaving him slightly disoriented and temporarily blind.

**CLINK**

The sound echoed across the hall, and Lucas turned his head to the direction of the sound.

**CLINK**

The sound came again, but this time, it sounded like it was in front of him.

**CLINK**

It sounded again, and Lucas raised an eyebrow as the sound slowly became familiar...

’Is that... a coin?’

He tried to adjust his vision, but he had trouble doing so. Whgether it was from the brightness or the exhaustion he felt, he couldn’t quite tell.

Slowly, his sight began to clear up—that, or the bright light was receding.

He didn’t care about that right now, all he wanted was to be sure of what was happening.

**CLINK**

In front of him, a shiny object was flung in the air and as it fell, a person caught it.

"State your business."

Lucas stared at the direction of the voice. He could tell that it was human. He could tell that it was a male and he could tell that the male was seated in front of him but he couldn’t quite make out his face.

"I’m waiting."

"Oh, uh— My name is Lucas. I was separated from my Faction a while back. I’m badly wounded and—"

The man cut him off. "You’re looking for a place to stay..."

"Yes."

The man fell silent and flipped the coin again, catching it without even looking.

"What made you think you could just walk in here and ask for shelter?"

Lucas knew that he had to be careful about how he chose his words as he couldn’t afford to make any mistakes, especially one that would cost him.

Lucas narrowed his eyes, thinking of the best possible answer to give. "Is a Faction not a place meant to shelter people?"

The man replied. "Bold of you to assume that. I get to say who stays and who doesn’t. You know that, right?"

He chuckled, a sound that made a chill run down Lucas’spine.

"However," the man said, "I’m feeling generous. Let’s see what fate says about that."

Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Fate?"

A grin spread across the man’s face. "Heads or Tails."

He flipped the coin.

It spun in the air once, twice, and came down to the ground in a quiet **clink** sound.

Lucas instaly understood the situation. Whatever side of the coin faced up would determine whether or not he would stay here.

Lucas’ eyes widened as he realised that this man was about to let a coin decide his fate...

"Tails."

~~~~~

Author Note: For those of you who may have noticed, I crafted this character from the Wrath IF Subaru. I just love the coin flipping gimmick 👀

Well then, I hope keep enjoying the novel, I’ll be sure to keep cooking peak. (⁠^⁠^⁠)

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