Parallel (A Virtual Gamer's Story) [Vol.1 - Vol.4 Complete]

Chapter 225: Essence

Nornesh's Lair,

11:21 pm. 19th Banem 1092.

"Ugh..." Kashi groaned, clutching his chest as he sat up. The daeben winced, his brows furrowed in a tight frown as he thought back to Razznik's beatdown, as well as the warrior's final warning.

"You will die if you are still reliant on Ferulic's abilities the next time we meet. See you soon."

'See you soon?' Kashi cursed under his breath. 'Like hell, you will.' A raging fire burned in the daeben's eyes, but it was soon quenched by the system's prompt.

Kashi examined the prompt with a frown. Fourteen Days? This was the longest cooldown he had ever seen for a skill. There were people with self-revive skills in King's Journey, and the longest he had ever seen was two days. Was the reason for the Second Wind's absurd cooldown because the Circle was not fully established?

Kashi shook his head, choosing not to dwell on the matter. This was good anyway. It would reduce his reliance on the skill. After all, [Second Wind] wasn't invisible. In fact, it was practically useless in a fight.

"Oi! How long are you gonna stare into space!"

Forced out of his thoughts, Kashi looked up to see a grinning Syèl squatting in front of him. Syèl chuckled as he patted the daeben's shoulder, eyes wide in wonder. "You can come back from the dead? So, what is it? Are you immortal? Will you come back if I decapitate your head?" Syèl's eyes shone as he raised his right hand, which was bathed in flames.

"I'd rather not find out," Kashi refused with a subdued laugh as he rose to his feet. "More importantly," said the daeben as Syèl stood up. "Did you receive any notice after I died?"

"Notice?" Syèl laughed, snaked his arm around Kashi's neck, and then revealed the two last system prompts from the system log. "Notice? Boy, the gang is probably pissed the fuck off right now."

"Fuck me." Kashi cursed as he examined the prompts. The daeben rubbed his face and then let out a defeated sigh. "Well, that's one trump card gone. Our enemies now know I can come back from the dead at least once." Kashi groaned and then looked to his left, where a visibly embarrassed Nornesh stood. The daeben frowned and then spat, "You owe me."

Nornesh chuckled and then shrugged. "I suppose I did renege on the terms of our challenge. You won, and I made a fool of myself. Fine, I shall add one more favor."

"Three," argued Kashi. "If I did not return, you would have been guilty of going back on your word. I imagine that would have been quite shameful for a Divine Dragon such as yourself."

Nornesh revealed a toothy grin as a dangerous glint sparked in his eyes. He glared at the daeben, but Kashi was more than equal to his intimidatory tactics. Realizing that the daeben would not back down, the dragon laughed and then put up two fingers, "Two favors. I will add two extra favors for a total of three. How does that sound?"