Setting down the unconscious Lera in the same tent that Ver was using before, Wu and Ver then sat right outside, watching the Dwellers emerge from the cave and start clearing away the debris of the battle. "So...you gonna tell me about this Token?" Wu asked, "What do you need it for?" "It's a symbol of power, status, and achievement in my world." Ver said, her fingers floating over her chest, "My world, as in that of the High Humans." The humans that were considered to be 'loved' by the Wave, with the highest of capacities and affinities. Wu nodded slowly as he recalled its details from Lera's introductions before, and he simply thought of them as the royalties of this world. Or the cocky posh bastards that occupy the more traditionalist colleges at the University of Oxford. "I...I need it for my family..." Ver said, her expressions hidden as she looked away. "Are they...struggling?" Wu asked, and Ver turned suddenly to him before chuckling painfully. "Nah." Ver shook her head and stood up to stretch her arms. Her body's still struggling to do even the slightest of movements, though the conversation certainly helped drawing her attention away from the pain, "I need it, as proof. It will be a proof of my strength." "As opposed to...just being strong?" Wu asked, "But didn't you take out those large groups of people?" Ver half-nodded before she turned to fully face Wu, and her gaze locked onto his. Wu swallowed nervously, and she reached forward to pick up his hand. Her fingertips were cold and soft, and she slowly moves it until Wu caresses the dark pattern around her right eye. "My manifest was what took them out." Ver admitted, "I have yet to fully control the Kraken...it's just...so impossible to do." "But it was also the lack of control that saves us all, right?" Wu asked, reminding her of the fact as she smiled briefly, "I am no expert of the Wave, but generally, the more powers you have, the harder it is for you to control, contain, or manipulate, from the potential energy perspective. But...if I can develop some sort of Wave technology.....maybe I can help. Or dull the pain, at the very least." "I...I was thinking how you can talk big about helping me." Ver said, letting go of Wu's hand as she put her eyepatch back, "and whether I should continue tackling this problem by myself, or rely on someone else. Is it still my power, if I have to rely on others to control it?" "That, I don't think I can answer for you." Wu replied honestly, "I am literally a caveman smashing rocks into each other right now when it comes to the Wave...There are simply way too much research I need to do to be able to help you. However, with time and your help, it is only a matter of time before we both figure things out. Plus, this is not a black and white matter, right? At the end of the day, it's still a power that you use, does it really matter if you managed to do what you need to do?" "Perhaps..." Ver nodded and pondered slowly as Wu quickly added something else. "Oh yeah, please don't kill me before then." Ver laughed at the remark and took a step forward, "Well, I do find you rather easy to talk to, Wu. So for that alone, I will keep you alive for a little while." "...I suppose that's all I can ask for now." Wu murmured, turning around as a slight ruffling sound came from within the tent. Then, as Ver sensed a massive disruption of the Wave, the tent itself was completely flipped up into the air, and Lera, the Rage Reincarnate, was ready to throw hands as her black hair spiked up into the air and her eyes are comically red and massive. "I WILL KILL YOU FOR-" Lera said, her fist already wound up and channeled with the Wave when she saw Wu standing next to Ver unharmed, and suddenly, her eyes returned to the normal grey, and her black hair dropped down by her head, "Huh. Care to explain, Mr Savior?" "Um...We struck a deal." Wu said, pointing to Ver and himself while dropping into the stance of a salesperson, "You know, the mutually beneficial kind. I help fix her eye and stuff, and she keeps me alive." "YOU TOOK THAT?!" Lera shouted, the massive bruise from Ver's kick still prominent on her jaw, "You let that bitch threaten you like that?" "I have a code, and I always keep my word, Lera." Ver said, her arms crossed, "I also told you my real name." "Why the hell does your code matter?" Lera shot an aggressive gaze in her direction, the shame of her defeat still replaying in her head. "I met your mother, Lita." Ver said, and at that moment, Lera's rage became completely unhinged. With her attacking and strengthening Casts rapidly casted, she dashed right in front of Ver's face as a gust of wind rushed to the latter's body. Her hand was raised and filled with power, ready to execute her on the spot when Wu suddenly stepped in. "Wait!" He said, as Lera unleashed a Released Orb of Energy right in the face of Ver, her attack slipping right past his ear. Ver's head was whipped backwards, and her body flew through the air before crashing into one of the pools as the kids scattered from around it, screaming. Wu looked at Lera briefly as she stood still, then he turned around to help Ver up. "She deserved that hit." Ver said with grave difficulty as she now carries an equal massive bruise on her face, "I...am fine." "Damn." Wu shook his head, "You sure are some hot-blooded girls." "She's fine! Lita was!" Ver said, standing up with the help of Wu, "I saved her from a group that wanted to use her to get to you, and she wanted me to tell you that she's gone back home. The real home." Lera clenched her hands into a fist and bit onto her lips, but she dropped her hands. She looked down onto the ground, and thoughts overwhelmed her mind. However, if anything, at least Lita's all right. Catching the two of them up with the latest developments, Lera and Ver have finally accepted a temporary truce. In fact, both are simply too injured to fight each other for now. "So...what now?" Lera asked. "You can't stay here." Ver said, and Lera's expressions were all the answers Wu needed. However, Ver had her reasons too, "With more time, the Token will only draw more and stronger bounty hunters to you. The later people will be able to track you to here, and the Dwellers will be in the line of fire again." "No thanks to you!" Lera said, her voice calm but tone sharp. Ver ignored the remark and simply turned to face Wu. "She's right." Wu said, "The Dwellers can't stay here either...I have a few ideas for where we can go, but what about you, Ver? What are you going to do?" "I am going to buy you some time." Ver said, her eyes fixated on Wu's face, and the intense stare actually made him slightly nervous, "You said you needed time, right? I will do that. I will say that the search was dangerous and fruitless, and that should draw away the attention of the next wave of Mercenaries at least for a while." "Would that make you a target?" Wu asked despite Lera's annoyance. "Yes." Ver said, "That's why I will also disappear for a little while and lay low." "Well...that sounds like a plan..." Wu said, reaching behind him and taking out the One-Shotter, "On another note...I have gotten this." "What's that?" Lera leaned forward, and her eyes were immediately captivated by the massive gemstone embedded within the center point of the bow. "One of the legendary weapons. That one is the legendary bow, the One-Shotter." Ver said, pulling out a tiny hand knife and putting it on the table too, "This is also one of them, the Sky Splitting Sword." "That's so small!" Lera laughed, pointing at what looked better served to spread butter than split anything. "Its size can be freely manipulated through the Wave." Ver said, "its former owner carries it around at the size of a two-handed blade, but keeping it as a hand knife is more convenient." "And what was the thing about the power levels you mentioned before?" Wu asked, his fingers running along the lines of Cast writing on the bow. "Lera, do you know this?" Ver turned her head towards the girl sitting right across her, and the smile on the latter's face immediately went away when their eyes met. "Yeah. What level are you?" "Hill-Forming mostly." Ver said before pointing her finger towards the eyepatch, "But if it comes out, I can push as far as high Mountain-Splitting." "I think I am gonna need a table again." Wu said, putting his hand up as if he's in class again, and actually, this entire isekai experience is just a never-ending class. "Here you go." Lera said, turning to one of the notes-taking pages in her Book of Casts. Power Levels Size of Impact Individuals with such power Stupid Ver's addition Heaven-Breaking The entire world The Ten Heavenly Pillars Ocean-Shaking An entire continent Handful of Sky Guardian Corp members River-Bending An entire Country Most of the Sky Guardian Corp members and the strongest Generals Mountain-Splitting An entire city Most of the Kingdom Generals and Masters of Combat The wielders of the Legendary Weapons allows for such levels. Hill-Forming An entire town Most of the adept Wave users Road-Clearing A small area Average Wave User Path-Opening N/A Beginner Wave User "Um...Can you change the headers for my column?" Ver asked, and Lera slammed the book shut. "NO!!!" As to what they are actually going to do with the legendary weapons, Ver is going to hold onto it and use it for herself in the future. For Wu, because he cannot actually control the Wave, there is no way he will be able to control the One-Shotter for now. Therefore, the first order of business after they get moving would be for him to figure out a way to use the legendary weapon for self-defense, and to do that, he already had a few ideas. Over the next few days, the three simply recovered their injuries in the camp. Lera had been keeping her eye on Ver more intently and became practically glued to Wu at all times. When he told her how he defeated Aya, the Great Archer by literally disintegrating her with continuous explosions, Lera's jaws dropped. "You know...that was kind of brutal..." Lera said, "Are you okay, in general?" "So far, I am." Wu said, smiling as Lera let out a sigh of relief. Then, she lied down on her side of the futon while facing away. They shared a rare moment of silence as Wu also lied down. The heat from Lera's body slowly seeping towards him through the blankets. Then, Lera spun her finger and turned off the Light Cast. "...Do you think I am useless?" She asked after twenty seconds of silence, still facing away and keeping a safe distance from Wu. "You? No. Why?" "Ver defeated me...and she came straight for you..." Lera said, her shoulders shrugging slightly and her voice slightly shaky, "I couldn't do anything to stop her...I thought I can finally stand beside you and fight, but..." "That's not true.' Wu said, reaching over and pulling Lera around to face him. She has tears in her eyes, but she's stubborn enough to not let it fall out, "Come here." Lera scooched closer and wrapped her hands over Wu's body. Now, the temperature is perfect even without the Warmth Cast. "Without you, I might not have been able to strike a deal with Ver." Wu said, caressing Lera's hair slowly, "You used Store/Release on her Mark of Manifestation, right? That pushed her over the edge, which is actually what allows us to take down the massive group of bounty hunters waiting at the main camp. Also, if you hadn't shielded me when we first encountered the exploding granules, we would not even be speaking here." "That's true..." Lera said quietly, "So I am actually pretty great, right?" Wu let out a loud chuckle that nearly woke up the people from the nearby tents. Then, he looked down to see her bright grey eyes and hugged her closer. "YES! You are the greatest guardian I have seen." "That's such a shit complement." Lera said, looking up to Wu as he yawned. She stayed near him as the two fell swiftly asleep again. In the next day, they broke the news of their decisions to Lono and explained everything that has happened to them. Lono was understandably upset with Ver and the fact that they are now on the radars of the bounty hunters, though he also understood why they needed to move. "Do not worry about us!" He said, as Tia hid behind the chief's massive body and watched on with jealousy as Ver and Lera stood next to Wu, "Dwellers are strongest when we are all united, and we will just move onto the next part of our journey! Even if it means leaving everything we have built behind...what's important is the people..." "Here." Wu said, handing him a book of notes, "This is everything you need to make the aqueduct again. You know, you can bring more than just your people around." Lono's mouth was opened slightly, but he didn't know what to say, "That's..." "Possible? Yeah." Wu smiled, slapping on the well-built shoulder of the old man before he started walking away, "That's the power of science. It belongs to no one, nowhere, and nothing. You all are going to be able to rebuild all that we have here, and make it even better than before." With his long fingers gripped tightly around the book, Lono held back his tears and shook the hands of Wu firmly. As Wu, Lera, and Ver walked away, the Dwellers all gathered by the damaged gates of their settlement, and they played their instruments with all of their hearts. "THANK YOU! WU! LERA! We will never forget you! Come find us in the west, and you will always have a home here!" A home away from home...isn't that nice? Wu thought, looking up at the clear sky above. They headed deep into the woods until the music of the Dwellers finally faded away, and it's time for Ver to say her goodbye too. "Here." Lera said, giving her a Communication Cast, "This isn't the same one as the one you used to betray us, but it should allow for a single two-way communication, just in case." Ver nodded and tuck that page of Cast into her pocket, "So...where are you going?" "Upstream, and we are going to figure out the deal with the exploding granules." Wu said with both hands behind his head, "If your eye doctor here is about to die, please come to save my ass~" "I will kill you if you die out there." Ver said, poking her finger onto Wu's chest once before walking away as her dark blonde hair flew in the wind, "See you soon, Mr Savior."