Page 38 of Our Final Game

I can’t believe I let him touch me.

Chapter 18

Tyson

Rohan is back to his heinous ways and his nasty attitude. We’ve been on the road heading to the next map for some time now, and he’s only brushed my arm on purpose about three different times. I don’t get him at all. I was just trying to help, and he’s acting like I killed his childhood pet or something. The glare he’s giving me right now could take me out alone.

A monster approaches us, and before I can even summon my blade, he’s speared his lance through its body. He’s been doing that a lot. Not even giving me a chance to fucking react. And I guess it’s fine. It’s not like we’re in any sort of danger with the level of these monsters.

We eventually make it to the lavender fields. I do a quick scan of the map. The monsters here are a little above our level still, so we need to be very strategic about how we approach this.

“Let’s find this stupid dirt and get this over with,” Rohan huffs, stepping deeper into the field.

“Rohan, let me take the front, and you cover my back. These monsters are a little volatile.”

“What? Why should I? I think we should just split up to find the drop quicker,” he pushes back.

“That’s fucking stupid, Ro.”

“Don’t call me that,” he says, glaring at me.

“What the fuck are you talking about? What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing. Let’s just find the drop!”

“You know what. Fine, go ahead,” I say, gesturing out into the field.

We’re both taking out as many monsters as we can alone from each end of the map, but still no sign of this special fertilizer. I’m definitely going to need to speak to the writing department about this quest when I get out of here because what the fuck kind of quest is this? I hack away at yet another monster to find nothing but low-level useless drops.

I can hear Rohan, though, on the other side, huffing, tired from fighting monsters obviously above his level without help. But he’s being so fucking hard to deal with right now. And here I thought we may have been getting somewhere. Not friends, definitely not, but getting along enough to find a way home. Rohan uses more MP to attack, dispelling the creature.

I’m watching him lean on his lance to catch his breath when I suddenly feel the ground begin to shake.

“What the fuck is that?” I whisper, Rohan looking over to me.

We’re both scanning the area when we see a boss-level monster rise from the soil, shaking its head.

“Holy shit…”

“I guess we found out who has this special dirt,” Rohan mutters next to me.

“Rohan, stay…” I start to say, but before the words can even leave my mouth, he’s already in the air, his lance pulled back and aiming to spear straight through the monster.

“Fuck! What are you doing!?” I yell.

My heart screams against my chest as I push my body to run fast after Rohan. He’s not strong enough to take this boss by himself and without a plan. Fuck. The monster spots him, my eyes go wide as it claws at his body, smacking him right out of the air. He lands harshly against the ground, losing half his HP in an instant.

“Fuck Rohan! Stop!” I run to shield him from the next attack, my blade meeting the monster’s claw just in time. The clash is so hard that sparks fly into the air around us. The ground is still shaking beneath us as it moves back to regain its distance.

“I don’t need your help!”

“Are you fucking serious right now!? Now is not the time for your bullshit.”

“I can take him on my own!” he shouts, using a last-resort attack, the most powerful one he likely has access to, and it stuns the monster. Before I can even blink, Rohan takes his chance, attacking the same way again. Only he lands it this time. The monster wails and writhes in the dirt; birds are shaken from the trees around us, and it finally dissipates, leaving the fertilizer behind.

“See, I got it.” He huffs, his HP left at ten percent; there’s blood splattered across his face. Not from the monster.

“You’re a fucking idiot,” I scoff, turning away to head back to town.