13.2

Alone atop of a large rock in the dark caverns he and Team Rectiser had made camp in, John raised his head and stared at the protruding rocks above him.

At least the stalactites above aren’t bickering with one another over me…

He chuckled at that silly train of thought of his. He was currently taking time for himself as Matilda and Kirk were engaged in a heated argument inside the portable base, thinking that it was better if he sat outside by himself until the siblings stopped.

In all honesty, he did not mind that Kirk dislike him for his outer appearance of an Eastern Continent man—an outsider in the eyes of the Empire—what he did, or even who he was.

John had far too many people thought of him as such back in A’vetheas because he was a human, so much so that he had developed a resistance to such pointless things.

The one reason he left and did not stay to watch the siblings fight each other verbally was because the atmosphere somehow reminded him too much of his forgotten past.

The very memories that he had long buried inside of his mind, memories that he never realized he had buried in him.

For the longest time, John had lived among the elves without reminiscing about his past. It was just the way his brain worked. He had never been one who got too hung up on past events, and when he looked back on them, it was when he had to learn from them.

It was why, until now, he still can’t let go of the fact he had contributed to the Harvests' death. He knew he was not to blame, but had he been there for them…

John shook his head.

Now is not the time. I am on an important mission here. I can’t afford to mull while everyone is trying to pass this aptitude test.

“My parents…who were they…” the words left his mouth before he could stop himself.

Like a moth to the flame, his mind wandered into the past that he had once ignored and long forgotten.

To a child, to any individual, when they were born into this world, birth parents are the very first people who would provide one with care, knowledge, and even love. There were many theories and schools of thought that an individual’s parents determined one’s personality and values. As parents were the very first few meaningful people to appear in an individual’s life, making it common knowledge that they are an important part of any individual’s life.

There were even some religions and customs that involved people worshipping their parents and ancestors from their lineage alike as deities. They would offer incense, even food offerings to the graves of their deceased blood parents. Customs such as these are only proof that the bond between parent and child is one of the most precious among them all.

That said, whenever John tried to remember his father and mother, the two people who gave birth to his existence, his heart crawled, bumps appeared on the surface of his skin, his body would shrink as his eyes trembled in their sockets.

And on the occasions he decide to dig deep into his faded memory, he would find that his mind was blank—

No, he found those memories to have a blank façade. Like a white screen draped over a crime scene, he dared not to explore any further in fear. In fear that he would experience unpleasant emotions that he had long left behind.

John Sarvod was a curious creature by nature, he entertained many peculiar thoughts that ranged from shaving his head bald on a winter’s night, simulating a sword fight using only his feet, to what would happen to him if he would just let the edge of his blade slit his throat.

To say his creativity and imagination were vast was no more than saying the sky is blue. But whenever the topic of his parents was brought up, all his mental facilities immediately came to a grinding halt.

Even now, as he pondered about the absence of these parents who were supposed to be the center of his life, he could not understand why was his own mind so averse to this subject.

Perhaps… they hurt me?

John shook his head in disbelief.

No, no, no, that can’t be it. Even if they did, I am sure they had no ill intentions. I am sure something small like that can’t change my love for them that easily—

His vision flashed.

A long whip came flying in his view.

“No!!! Please, please, please, stop!!! I won’t do it anymoreee!!!”

Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!

“I am s-sorry!!! P-please!!!”

Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!

John’s eyes became wide as the memory faded from his mind. His heart thumped loudly as he could still hear the screams of a young boy in his ears. It was his very the first taste of fear, a fear that far superseded the pain that comes with the lashes…

It was the pain that came with the fear of rejection.

A wound that his parents had inflicted on him.

“W-what…” his eyes twitched at the very memory. “In the fucking hell was that...? T-that’s…”

Before he could get another word out, another vision flashed before him.

In front of him stood a lady who had long black hair just like his, a woman who had the same dark eyes as his. Her expression, however, had a certain cruelty to them, a cruelty that even John, who was quick-witted as he was, can’t seem to understand.

The woman’s mouth moved, but he could not hear a single word that she was saying.

All John could see was the view before him moved left and right before it became muddled with what seemed like tears.

“Please don’t throw me!”

…

“I’ll do anything!”

The woman’s stony expression did not change as she turned her back on him, following that were the image of two doors came closing on him, abruptly ending the vision.

His fingers twitched in the air as the view of the cavern returned to him.

John’s head throbbed as he brought his hands to his temples, casting [Heal] as quickly as he could, immediately subsiding the unwanted sensation on his head.

“That sucked… I did not need to remember that,” he whispered to himself as he slowly regained control of his own mind.

From what he deduced from the visions, he could understand his parents were not the love providing beings that all spoke of. Compared to the Harvest couple, the very people in his visions were the complete opposite of what one would want in their lives.

The first vision was probably him receiving punishment for not living up to expectations. The second one, however…

He was unsure what to make of it. It seemed like he was being thrown from the house for doing something, but it seemed to be more than just that.

Perhaps it was a form of emotional punishment?

John could not quite put a finger on it, but whatever it may be, he was certain that his parents were not the type of people to openly disown their child…or could they be cruel people after all?

And what more painful way to punish a child than to beat them without telling reason, to tell them they are being abandoned by the only people who should have given him nothing more than a loving home.

John placed his palms on his forehead as he looked at the ground.

“What kind of people do that?” his face contorted into a horrified expression. “That’s a child, what— why? How do things like that even occur in their minds? What the fuck?”

It felt as though the flesh in his heart was carved from him

He was disappointed. Perhaps even angered.

But…but…

“That’s too far-fetched…”

Not because those memories belonged to him, not because he had forgotten them, not because he could do nothing, not because the people in his visions were those who were supposed to be his parents.

Rather, he was disheartened, at how could someone conjure up such…such, disgusting ways of disciplining a young child.

Do they not understand how fragile a child’s heart is? Or do they do it knowing it is exactly so? Or was it because they did it because they wanted to?

The questions in his mind repeated themselves, his emotions stirred, he wanted to ask why, he wanted to know what the purpose for such acts was, and mostly, he wanted to know whether his memories were truly his past or just a trick of his own broken mind.

Is that why I am this w-way?

Was he someone who purposely creates chaos around him unknowingly because he was raised in a similarly unstable household?

Did he consciously rejected others, because he himself, had been rejected the most?

His head became heavy as he delved deeper into the meaning behind his fragmented past. Eyes shaky as he found it difficult to digest the reason for his lost memories of his past.

“Kahnira…Kahnira, she’s an important person. I just need to…remember her, I just need to. She always brought up the matter of my parents around me…I-I…”

He tried prying his mind for more, to dig up what was possible, but the flashes went as quickly as it came, informing him no more of what he saw seconds ago. Leaving John none the wiser about his past.

“Hey, John… John!!!”

Aurelius' voice came to John’s ears while his thoughts of his abusive parents still raced, sparing John from the headaches and heartaches that accompanied with them.

“Huh!!?? I-I…” he shouted with intense panting, a shaking head.

“Are you fine?”

John raised his head and saw that the beastkin had his body popping out of the tent, looking towards him with concern. It was clear that Aurelius had been watching him for quite some time now, but have not spoken a word to not disturb John.

“Y-yeah,” John replied, albeit too eager to get his mind off the issue regarding his past. “Just thinking about… You know…things,” vaguely gesturing towards Aurelius.

“Is that so?” the beastkin exited the portable base walked to him. “You’ve been outside for quite some time. Are you sure Kirk didn’t upset you? I promised to not do anything to him, but if he…”

John raised a hand, halting Aurelius before the wolfkin could suggest it.

“It’s fine. I am used to people doing that to me, accusing me of random bullshit I have no idea about. It’s nothing compared to what I’ve experienced.”

Aurelius moved to a large rock across John, patted on it before taking a seat before him, “Then, why did you leave? You looked… quite horrified back there.”

“I was just reminded of something unpleasant.”

“Like what?” the wolfkin raised a brow at John, his expression was the most serious that John had ever seen.

John opened his eyes and stared at Aurelius dumbly. He was not expecting the wolfkin to be so prying.

If John was frank, he did not expect anyone from Team Rectiser would care about anything that happened, nor would they care about his mental state of being unless it directly affected his ability to use his healing magic.

He was, after all, a useful tool. That’s all he ever amounted to the elves. It did not surprise him if Team Rectiser thought of him as such.

“You are especially nosy about things that aren’t related to you.”

John had to admit, if not for how persistent Aurelius was, he would not exactly be in Team Rectiser with the beastkin and still be willing to interact with the world around him. In some ways, he owed the wolfkin for trying to get out of his miserable state.

“I mean, share it with me if you want to… Since you’ve listened to the story about me and my sister, I thought it’s fair to do the same for you.”

“I…uh…” John found himself at a loss for words. “I don’t think I can put a word to it. I am still figuring out what it is.”

It is hard to know what I am thinking about when I don’t even know why I feel this way.

“…Life is pretty weird like that,” Aurelius muttered loud enough for John to hear.

“…”

Seeing that John was not keen to respond, Aurelius continued, “It’s funny how when things are good, we don’t see it, only when they worsen, do we actually appreciate what we have.”

John’s eyes averted away from the beastkin.

He already knew that.

Ever since his exile from A’vetheas, this immutable fact had been beaten into him over and over again. He had always been fortunate enough to be helped and appreciated by others, but despite the gifts that fell onto his lap, John managed to turn them into thorns that pricked his heart.

His gut help but churn when those words came from Aurelius.

I know that much already…

I tried adapting, I tried moving on, I tried appreciating what I have. Now, I don’t even know if I am still repeating the very things I’ve done back when I lived with my parents—genetic providers… I don’t know if I am committing the same sins that lead to my suffering. I-I…don’t know…

I am no better than anyone, no better than a demon.

“Listen Aurelius, I don’t need you to repeat things I already know. I am not in for some revision class on life lessons. It’s getting old.”

The wolfkin raised a hand and stopped John, “I am not done. What I am trying to say, is one should appreciate even the bad times, our failures, our enemies, and even those who wrong us.”

John squinted, “This coming from you? You looked ready to bite Kirk’s head off yesterday?”

“They were instincts, John. I admit they can get pretty wild, but my point still stands. If one cannot look past or welcome their downfalls, they would not appreciate their success—"

Before the wolfkin could continue, John interrupted, “Not to be an egotistical prick, but I’ve already learned from my mistakes. I already pick on myself, as much as it is already.” He made a face as he slowly clenched his fists, “What’s the purpose of…o-of welcoming my downfalls and my enemies, as you put it? Are you saying I should walk the path of self-destruction? How does that make sense?”

Aurelius simply smiled at John’s sudden agitation at the topic at hand.

“If it’s you, John, I am sure you’ll soon figure it out soon enough.”

The wolfkin casually shrugged before he turned towards the tent.

“Wait! You will not make me guess things,” John grabbed the wolfkin by the shoulder, stopping Aurelius before he left. “If you have anything to insinuate, just spit it out already.”

Aurelius’ bright orange eyes met John’s with a crinkle, “Ahahaha!!! You are just proving me right! John, you have nothing to worry about!”

Confused by the beastkin’s unusual behavior, he released Aurelius, “What are you trying to say? What’s so funny?”

Aurelius scratched his cheeks haughtily, “What I said to you earlier was one of those questions that the monks who raised me often asked of me. The questions themselves usually aren’t important, rather, it was the way I answered the questions that served the true purpose.”

“You are getting more and more peculiar each time I speak with you.”

“I suppose that’s what happens to someone if they were raised by the monks for most of his life.” Aurelius let out a toothy grin, exposing his sharp fangs. “Think of it as nothing, ha!”

John made a face as he realized Aurelius had simply wanted to test his very own emotions from the way he reacted to the unusual questions the wolfkin gave him.

“There must be simpler ways to do this, what were you trying to gauge that is so important?”

“It’s a reminder. Regarding those who you’ve severed ties with, like the hero Scywell and his party. I was not sure what was troubling you, but you looked like you were contemplating on people you held dear to.”

“I-I…”

“Perhaps they are meaningless squabbles. Perhaps your expectations of them were all shattered. But it still doesn’t make you less of who you are.”

“...”

“To forge and destroy is only the by-product of existence. What happened could be regrettable, or it could have been amazing. In either case, all of that has transpired or has become, is ultimately the living proof of who you are and what you experienced. We may not shape the world as it comes, but we are certain to know we have existed and have done what we could with our time here.”

John made a flat line with his lips, “T-that’s oddly vague…”

“Haha, it’s open to interpretation if you are too bothered by it. It took me living with the monks for years to vaguely grasp the idea of it. It’s different for everyone, of course. That’s why I am telling you to not worry too much.”

Giving up on the conversation, John pursed his lips in annoyance. “What’s up with you, Aurelius? One moment I thought you were on to something, the next, you pull these unusual jests.” John shook his head disapprovingly, “What’s next? Don’t tell me you are going to shave your head and return to the monastery?”

“I’d look like a poodle. Trust me, it’s an awful sight. It was so bad that the monks gave me special permission to keep me hair.”

“Aren’t you very humorous today?”

The wolfkin shrugged, “Jokes are just a way to escape the meaningless suffering that we inflict upon ourselves.”

“That’s...”

What is Aurelius saying?

John paused.

Aurelius was a wolfkin, and like most of the beastkins, they lived rather simple lives compared to someone like himself. As long they had proper food, clothing and community, it was plenty.

Beastkin, for the most part, had no desire for materialistic or any hedonistic tendencies.

It was awfully unusual for those words to come from Aurelius’ mouth since the beastkin was mostly chipper for as long as John knew Aurelius.

“Aurelius, by avoiding suffering, what do you—”

Boom!!!

The caverns rumbled.

Following that, the ground beneath them shivered greatly, causing John to almost lose his footing.

“What was that?” the words parted John’s mouth as he looked to where the source of the vibration came from. His head followed upwards to where the cavern’s entrance was. “Oh, crap...”

The wurm that was stuck there had managed to fit a small portion of its body through the entrance, its body wriggling as it slowly squeezed itself into the caverns where Team Rectiser had entered.

“How is it squeezing itself through?”

Boom!

Another loud series of vibration took the caverns, causing the nearby rocks to split, lo-and-behold…

The wurm had squeezed further into the caverns, now with a quarter of its body inside of where all of Team Rectiser were.

“The entrance must have expanded from the sun's heat… The other wurm must be trying to push this one into the caves get us all. Aurelius, we have to tell Bran and the others—”

John stopped himself when he saw the other three members of Team Rectiser had exited the tent to investigate what was going on.

“We have to get going,” Bran seemed to have heard what John explained immediately relayed to everyone. “Cacti, Matilda…”

“On it!” as if she knew what Bran was going to say, Matilda immediately crouched and disassembled their base with Cacti.

“Here, you mutt,” a disgruntled Kirk threw a pair of sheathed scimitar at Aurelius, “You forgot your weapons when you ran out to check on John. Everyone except for you has their weapons on them.”

With the twin long curved blades in his arms, Aurelius wasted no time in holstering them to his waist, “Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me yet, that stupid wurm is still coming at us.”

Boom!!!

“We’ll have to face the eternal decays now that the wurms are forcing themselves all their way to us,” Bran followed up. “We can deal with the wurm problem later, but if this keeps up, the wurm will attract the eternal decays and force us in an unfavorable position.”

The last thing Team Rectiser needed was to be sandwiched in between both the eternal decays and the wurm on their two flanks.

“B-Bran, w-we are ready to go!” Cacti squeaked as she and Matilda quickly grouped up with the rest of them.

“It won’t be easy. We have to take down every eternal decay if we want any chance of escaping this underground cavern.”

With that, Team Rectiser traveled deeper, downwards.

Their descent took roughly ten minutes. With the constant rumbling and shaking of the caverns caused by the wurms on the outside, everyone had to hurry in order to take the eternal decays by surprise.

Team Rectiser came to a halt as they arrived at the eternal decay’s lair.

In front of them was a twenty-meter tall cave, spanned before them was a few hundred meters square clearing with a 50 meter diameter pool that oozed and bubbled with green glowing liquid laid at the very center of the cave.

“Try to k-keep away from t-that,” Cacti stuttered as she pointed to the florescent pool, “I-it will melt everything it touches.”

“Yeah, it’s not just any pool, it’s these monsters’ home,” Kirk followed up, placing his head on Cacti’s head while he was at it.

“Avoid all contact if possible. Especially you, Kirk. If you have to get close to them, please use the stones that the toxic waste has yet to touch.”

What Matilda was referring to were the various protruding surfaces that were found on parts of the florescent pool of toxic waste.

“Don’t worry, sis. I am not that dumb. You just keep watch on lil Brand-o over there.”

Watching how friendly the siblings were behaving, John looked to Bran for answers, “Just a moment ago they were fighting...”

Bran simply shrugged, “They’ve placed that on hold for now that we have a bigger crisis going on.”

So they just pick fights out of nowhere and can put it on hold?

John blinked with great bewilderment.

“Kirk might have some sense after all…”

“Even I can differentiate what’s appropriate, John. I am not that stupid,” Kirk snapped back at John’s not so quiet mutter. “Now, where are those nasty things… I have spotted none of them ever since we entered their lair. Shouldn’t they be furiously guarding this place as you said Bran?” Kirk got closer to the toxic pool before them and strode about.

According to Bran and Matilda’s observation earlier in the morning, there were supposed to be three, and only three, eternal decays that dwelt in these caverns.

All Team Rectiser had to do was to defeat all three eternal decays and hope for the chalice that was stated in their mission sphere to appear.

By only overcoming the immediate challenges at hand, the team would only stand a chance at completing their tasks.

Basing off how serious Kaldor Klarizan’s announcement to everyone a few days ago was, it was understood that the academy must have employed such a mechanic to test its students.

However, there was just one tiny problem for Team Rectiser to achieve that at the moment.

None of the eternal decays were in sight.

This was their lair, but none of the three eternal decays that Bran and Matilda spotted earlier in the morning were here.

“Perhaps they traveled further down into the caverns?” Matilda asked, indicating to the various corridor like cavern passages at the opposite of the underground cave. “Bran, if you like, I can use tracking magic, we'll—”

“No!” Bran raised a hand and halt Matilda before she could start chanting her magic. “Please save your energy, Matilda. Cacti, if you would, please cast your protection magic on all of us now.”

“N-now?” Cacti asked, “I can only hold it for two hours maximum, if we use it now and the fight with the eternal decays takes up more than…”

“We don’t have that much time. The air here is already poisonous as it gets. We just have to defeat them fast enough. John will handle healing us if we over extended.”

“O-okay,” Cacti answered before focusing herself and chanted with her staff clutched tightly in her hands. “On the laws given to man to nature’s immutable force, the will of d-defense lies on the sheer fortitude of the universe. Heed my desire and ensue safety to my comrades… [Shroud of the Immutable].”

A moment later, all members of Team Rectiser were covered by a thin gray membrane on the surface of their bodies, indicating the protective spell that Cacti cast was successful.

“Well done,” Kirk gave Cacti a thumbs up before the two of them headed off deeper into the massive cave.

According to one of Bran’s plans to draw out their enemies, Kirk was supposed to draw the eternal decay’s attention in a distance away with Cacti in order for the rest of them to flank the eternal decays.

As Kirk and Cacti attempted to reach to other end of the toxic pool, the cave shook greatly as their feet traversed the rocky ground.

Boom!!! Boom!!! Boom!!! Boom!!! Boom!!!

“The wurms are getting close…” Aurelius pointed out. “If this keeps up, the entire underground system might collapse.”

“Wurms don’t have that much strength, especially if they are forcing their way in,” John said. “It should be fine, but I would be on the look out for any rocks falling from above…”

Crack.

It was a tiny noise, but when everyone’s eyes turned to the source, it was too late. A large piece of the stalactite from above Cacti had snapped and honed downwards to the petite girl.

Fuck...

John was already running towards the girl when he saw the rock cracked, but Cacti had already moved quite a distance, it was impossible for him to reach her to intercept the pointed rock pierces her head and cast [Heal] in time before any serious damage could occur.

“[Hea—]”

“AAHHHHHH!!!!”

But he was too late. A horrible sound of pain echoed in his ears.

“Kirk?” he muttered as he recognized who the voice belonged to. Kneeled in front of him was Kirk, who threw himself around Cacti in order to protect her from the falling rocks. A large piece of stalactite protruded from his back blood trickled from it.

“K-Kirk!” Cacti’s voice echoed in the caverns as she called out to the ghastly pale Kirk.

Boom!!! Boom!!!

The caves shook a few more times, then all the shaking caused by the wurms came to a screeching halt. It was only then did John closer to Kirk and inspected the stalactite that protruded from his back.

His spine… It must have been pierced deeply.

“Kirk, can you hear me?” John wasted no time in observing the fatal wound before him.

“Y-yeah… H-hurry and… u-use your magic...” Kirk’s voice was small, the strength in his eyes waned as he replied.

John gotten to his back, assumed a wider stance and placed his hands on the shard of rock that was behind Kirk.

“Cacti, hold his shoulders for me. Make sure Kirk doesn’t move. I need to get his cleanly out of his body or the healing process will get complicated.”

“O-okay,” fighting tears back into her dewy eyes, she did what she was told and held her fiancée closely.

“This is going to hurt, Kirk. On the count of, one, two…three!!!” at his count, John brought his forearms upwards and pulled the stalactite shard back from Kirk’s back.

As blood was about to burst forth to John’s face, he immediately sealed the wound with [Heal] cast silently. His blue aura immediately filled in the seams that were presented in Kirk’s body, reattaching the mashed bones and flesh that was before him.

“Argh!!!” Kirk choked as John still had his magic flowing to him.

“Hang on, just a little more,” John said, with his eyes firmly on the closing wound. It was when the last bit of Kirk’s skin regenerated did he finally stop applying [Heal] on Kirk.

Beads of sweat came falling down John’s head as he let out a sigh of relief. It had been sometime since he used [Heal] on such serious injuries, just the act of restoring Kirk’s spinal cord sapped a sizeable chunk of energy from him.

“Kirk, a-are you f-fine now? Do I n-need to restore vitality…”

“It’s fine, Cacti. We need to save our energy for the fight. Can’t believe I got injured because of those stupid wurms.” Kirk placed a palm on Cacti’s head and assured her. “Thanks… John.” Kirk, who was still on the ground, raised a hand to him, offering a handshake.

Guess he wants to bury the hatchet from yesterday? As long as he understands...

Accepting Kirksten’s friendly gesture, John grabbed Kirk and pulled him to his feet, “All is well, as long we don’t have any sudden encounters with the eternal decays…”

His voice faded as an ominous ticking entered his keen ear.

Tick-tack-tick-tack-tick-tack…

“John?”

“Wait... I hear something behind us.”

Behind him was one of the many passages that the eternal decays had made for their lair. Just like any hive-minded insects, the eternal decays would excavate different chambers for a wide range of uses.

The noise got louder and more distinct, then finally, he turned and look down into the path that extended into a chamber further below.

Two long antennae slowly rose to his sight. Following that was an insect head that was the size of a full sized chair. It had two long arms that resembled the image of a mechanical scythe, and below its body were four pole-like legs.

The monster had the appearance and features of a mantis. Its size, however, was five times John’s. And from the various gaps and cavities that were found in its exoskeleton, glowing luminescent liquid oozed and dripped from it.

“An eternal decay.”

No doubt it was coming for them.

“Stop gawking at it, John, we have to—"

As Kirk recognized the same monster as John, a loud command from Bran immediately overshadowed his voice from the entrance of the lair.

“Position compromised!!! Everyone get back!!!”

At first, John thought that Bran’s voice was directed at him, but when he turned to look at Team Rectiser’s leader, he almost froze.

Click-clack.

Right above the entrance to the lair, there was yet another eternal decay. It had a twenty meter long body, and on the sides of its body were short but razor sharp legs that came in numbers of nearing a hundred. And on its head were two fangs that glowing in bright toxic green as with the crevices that formed the many sections of its body.

“C-centipede!” Cacti unwillingly yelped at the sight of the second eternal decay that was the super-sized version of the well-known poisonous insect. “It m-must have crawled above the caves while we w-weren’t paying attention!”

“Mantis, centipede… That leaves only one more.” Kirk muttered grimly under his breath. “The plan was to draw the centipede and kill it before anything starts first… But we can’t be sure of what to do until the third eternal decay.”

“What’s the third eternal decay?” John, who only know of the centipede eternal decay due him missing earlier parts of the morning meeting of Team Rectiser, asked. “A spider based eternal decay?”

“No, it’s worse…”

“I-it is h-hornet. The o-ones that attack e-everything on sight.”

A hornet? A hornet? A hornet that is at least five times my size!?

“Most of the eternal decays move a quarter the speed of their tiny insect counterparts because of their size, but since the centipede can climb walls and have those deadly legs, as long we take care of it before the hornet comes for us—”

Bzzzzt….

As if it was on cue to Kirk’s explanation, the sound of a low buzzing hmm began filling the room.

“Ah… Shit, I spoke too soon.”