Chapter 599: Meaninglessness

"Are you sure you will be fine?" asked the cat while staring at his partially-missing torso. "Now that we have signed the contract, you can say that our lives are now linked. I don't want you to die on me, Oriole."

Oriole stared at the cat with amusement before pulling himself up. The bone formation of his rib cage was taking the longest to heal, but he was not in real danger, thanks to the healing potions that Arthur gave him.

"You are more caring than my associate, Reece," said Oriole to the cat, who told him its name after signing the contract. "I have to go and meet Arthur to tell him about the arrays. You can escort me afterward."

"...you are a good friend, Oriole," sighed Reece in his meowy voice. "I need to go back to my main body to possess some guards. After that, we can leave this place with my boss."

"...is it possible that your boss is the one who destroyed the ruins?" asked Oriole after some pondering. The cat nodded with a smug smile as it leaned on a rock. "I think the two of them have already met."

"...what?" panicked Reece at the possibility. "Arthur should be attempting to leave Runera instead of visiting the ruins. Fortunately, my boss will steal the treasure inside, so the two of them should not meet."

"Unless Arthur made a deal with the Runic Guards to help them just to leave Runera," sighed Oriole as he opened another potion and gulped it down. His body felt the runes course through his body and promote his healing while his microscopic modeling was regenerating the missing tissue. "We need to stop them."

"I have to disable the arrays for Arthur to save his family," said Reece with worry as he paced around with his tiny body. "I cannot be at two places at once, especially not with a borrowed body."

"I thought you were a shapeshifter."

"Those shady actors can never live up to my level," said Reece while waving his paw. "I am the real deal! A cat right now, but a human at heart."

Oriole almost laughed despite the bleakness of their situation. However, he knew that no one else could finish the job other than him. As he was about to suggest it, his companion returned.

"...I thought I would find you dead," said Maryam with a labored breath. "We can finally escape the underground city. The anti-corruption arrays have cleared the residual..." she then noticed the cat standing on its hind legs. "Why is there a cat here?"

"...meow?" said Reece with big blinking eyes.

"This is a creature I have summoned," said Oriole without skipping a beat. "Are you saying we can go into the ruins?"

"Are you an idiot? We need to get you healed. Why on earth would we go into the ruins?" snapped Maryam as she stormed toward him. "Lean on my shoulder and let me take you out of here."

Oriole had to admit her concern touched him, but he knew that even with his wrecked body, there was no way he was going to leave without bringing Arthur out. He had to enter the ruins to tell him that the space arrays had been disabled.

"What about the space arrays?" said Oriole as he winked at Reece, who understood his assignment. "I just want to see Alexie as soon as possible."

"And he would prefer it if you were still alive," said Maryam with a frown. "I have no idea where you found this amount of resolve. I know that you are in enough pain to lose consciousness, so there is no need to act tough."

"I lack the skills to act tough," laughed Oriole, which made him wince from the pain. His pale face was covered in sweat, and it proved Maryam right. "There are things I need to do even if it costs me my life."

"No, there are not. Your life should be the most important thing for you, even more, important than any friend you have. Alexie will understand if you do not save him this time."

Oriole was quiet as he allowed her to take him out of the cave and toward the pathway leading toward the ruins. It was the closest one for them to leave the underground city without facing that monster.

"Alexie saved my life many times, and he never asked for anything in return. All my accomplishments are things that I owe to him. But, just for once, I want to be the one saving him."

"...if you can walk on your own, then be my guest," grumbled the runemaster before sighing. "I apologize. I cannot lie that this camaraderie appealed to me into joining Ascent in the first place."

"About that," hesitated Oriole. "I am afraid that I will leave the guild before it can fly," muttered Oriole, and his words made the runemaster stop walking and turn toward him with a frown. "I will send Alexie a message to let you join, but I am afraid that I will be unable to follow along."

"...what is the meaning of this?" asked Maryam as she glared at him. "You are leaving even though you were so excited a few hours ago? Did something happen to change your mind?"

"I realized that I am too dependent on Alexie," Oriole shook his head with a laugh as sweat rolled down his face. "And I will forever be haunted by the need to repay him. If he told me one day to die, I don't think I would hesitate to do so."

"You are grateful, not imprisoned," Maryam said while biting her lips. "I wanted to join Ascent for your sake, Oriole. Please don't leave."

"My reliance on him is unhidden, though," said Oriole. Even though this was not the real reason, it was also somehow true. Oriole realized during this fight: he was so weak that it made him a burden. "Alexie is better off without me."

"Are you blind to what you are doing?" snapped Maryam in his face, almost shouting. "You are still bleeding, but all you can think about is helping him. How is this being a burden?"

Oriole suddenly remembered a conversation with Arthur after the merge and the awakening of his current personality. It was when Arthur showed him another fraction of his power and proof that he was akin to a god.

"I can grant abilities," said Arthur as he stared at Oriole. "I can grant you any ability you can think about, as long as it is on the first class of creational runes."

The first-class meant direct transmutation of energy into another form, like mana turning into flames or ice. A second class is one where the elements combine to form a more powerful rune. The classes keep going according to the degree of reality alteration, and it might even reach the level of bending the laws of nature.

Oriole remembers staring at the man in front of him with a complex emotion before shaking his head. Arthur seemed surprised that Oriole would decline power, but this was his silly way of wanting to prove himself.

"I can't explain it well myself," said Oriole as he stared at his own hands. "However, if I let you bend reality for me, I would lose my meaning. I strived all of my life to march forward and survive, and you are now offering me the final goal. I will have to refuse."

Arthur was silent before a smile appeared on his face, and then he started to laugh. Oriole knew that he said something wrong because Arthur was given this 'final goal' that he never asked for it.

"This made me wonder if I had lost something when I received this power, too," said Arthur. "Ever since I awakened, I could jump through ranks easily. It has been a year and a half since I received the legacy, yet I am wielding every ability imaginable."

"I know that it is foolish, but suffering somehow gives meaning to things. You may have received great powers, but you were never given the privileges that accompany it," explained Oriole. "You have yet to find meaning, and that is alright too. That is why we live."

"Thank you, Oriole," said Arthur at that time. "I wanted to make sure that no harm befalls you, but I think you will be just fine. You are the person I rely on the most, after all."

At that time, Oriole did not understand the meaning of those words. How was he anything more than a burden? Even though he tried to make himself look less pathetic in front of Arthur, the real reason for his rejection was simple.

Oriole knew that he would be nothing but a burden on Arthur, and for him to survive, he would need to become a vessel of power. Of course, it was idiotic and dreamy, but the runemaster wanted to become something using his hard work. Otherwise, if he lets Arthur empower him, he would just be another follower of the creator instead of an equal friend.

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