My Fate System

As the clear blue sky became their new ceiling, Nikolai began to regain movement. Without the potion that Yuxi gave him, he would have taken a bit more time. He touched his neck where she grabbed him, her words still fresh in his mind.

'Is this what you fear?'

It was. Nikolai hated that he was in a position where she could do that for him, even to prove that she wouldn't hurt him. Yuxi gave him the potion when he couldn't move, but it sat in his stomach like disgusting sewage water.

'Maybe I should be grateful, but I'm fucking not.' Nikola retracted his hand and turned toward the mute archer, grabbing her bow and standing beside the railings.

He stood up and hobbled toward her. His darkness muffled his steps until he was right behind her, his hands raised. All he could think of was this:

'A single push and I can rest easy...'

His body moved without thinking as if he was in a trance. Nikolai took a single step forward and shoved the archer into the railings before pushing her off the ship.

Yuxi turned with shock as she looked at him, her brown hair fluttering in the wind. Nikolai watched as she fell to the ground while dread filled her eyes. The fear he saw within them made him snap out of his senses, but she was gone.

'I pushed her...' Nikolai looked at his hands, which had blood on them. As he closed his eyes, wishing that this wasn't real, his wishes were fulfilled.

"Wake up!" Pain stung his cheeks as he snapped his eyes open. He was lying on the ship, and Lex's face filled his view. She grabbed his collar and pulled him up, pointing at the sky.

"We need your help!" A giant ship was a distance away behind them, and Yuxi was looking at it beside the railing.

'It was a dream?' Nikolai blinked as he looked at Yuxi standing there, alive and on the ship. Now that he thought about it, how can there be blood on his hand just from pushing her?

"I said, we need to run! Do your thing!" His other cheek stung as Lex slapped him again, trying to snap him out of his daze.

"Thing?"

"How did you hide the bullets?" Lex asked with urgency. "Use that, but on the ship!"

"Just because I can..."

"This ship is a giant bullet. Just hide it!" Lex pulled him up and threw him toward the railings. "Mute girl, give me a three Mana Restore from the alchemist's bag!"

Before Nikolai could say anything, Lex made him drink the three potions, and his mana was restored instantly. However, the potency of the potions didn't fade even as his mana reached its peak.

Some people thought this method would increase their mana, but they later found that it would only hurt your energy pathways.

"Go, go, go!"

Nikolai raised his hand as his mana turned into darkness and exploded. His dark mana covered the ship and began to conceal it, decreasing tremendously before being refilled by the potions.

He became the filter of darkness until the ship disappeared and slipped into the dark dimension. Nikolai knew that such a grand show was bound to bring him trouble later on, as others might accuse him of being a Dark Being instead of a human.

Not that he was a human.

However, the alternative was being shot by the dwarves. Between a possibility and a certainty, Nikolai would rather bet on the former.

As his darkness concealed the ship, his mana was almost gone, but it was still regenerating faster than usual. Nikolai maintained the stealth as Alias drew away from the dwarves under Lex's steering.

The dwarves couldn't shoot down an aircraft they couldn't see. As Alias flew away, Nikolai slumped back on the floor. He breathed heavily on the deck with a sweaty face as Lex came out of the core room with a triumphant smile.

"Good job, everyone!"

"Good job trying to kill me indeed," Nikolai spat as he felt the headband get soaked with sweat. He grabbed the railing and tried to stand up, looking at the archer beside him, who was looking at him with a concerned face.

'Don't give me that face when I dream of killing you,' Nikolai felt sick all of a sudden and wanted to be alone.

"Well, it was either that or us getting buried with the ship," Lex shrugged. "It's your call, captain!" She said with a grin.

"How is Sergio?" Nikolai turned toward the alchemist, who was snoring amid the crisis. Despite being sprawled on his face, Sergio's burns looked a lot better than earlier.

"He's better, I think? I didn't have a lot of time to check on him between flying the ship and making sure that we aren't blown to smithereens." Lex said with a helpless shrug.

"Steer the ship toward the west," Nikolai said as he wobbled toward Sergio. Crouching beside him, Nikolai heard his bones crackle. "Ugh."

He pulled Sergio toward the room below. Opening the hatchway, Nikolai turned to glare at the archer. After seeing his gestures for her to help him. Yuxi came forward and carried Sergio with him.

They managed to bring Sergio down to the bunk and threw him on the bed. Nikolai shooed the archer away, and she left. He walked to the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

The headband he wore unrolled on the sink as Nikolai looked at his reflection in the mirror. An ugly creature covered with dried-up blood all over his face and neck.

His two horns and ears breathed the fresh air after being wrapped up for so long. The two black horns ached as he touched them. The fact that he could feel anything from them disturbed him.

Nikolai cleaned his body and wiped away the blood before taking a new headband, a grey one, and wrapping it around his head. Then, after going back into the room and making sure Sergio was recovering, Nikolai fell asleep on the bed.