The cave still echoed with the wet, brutal sound of Afiri's death.
The Cozy Warriors stood frozen — horror and confusion locking their muscles in place.
Afiri, the strange boy they had just met, now lay sprawled across the rocky floor, his head crushed like a melon between the Oger's giant hands.
A heavy silence swallowed the group.
Then —
"GUYS, SNAP OUT OF IT!"
Hürs roared like a battle horn.
"We've got bigger problems!"
The Oger snarled, charging at them with thundering steps.
"BURK! ICE—NOW!"
Burk, hands shaking, raised his staff and shouted the incantation.
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💠 Spell Cast: Ice Wall (Ground Variant)
➤ Instead of a vertical wall, this technique freezes the ground, creating an unstable slick surface.
➤ Effective to disarm rushing enemies by causing loss of footing.
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A thin sheen of ice spread across the rocky floor.
The massive Oger skidded like a drunken beast, spinning wildly — and CRASHED back-first into the stone wall with a deafening BOOM.
"MO, HIT HIS HEAD, NOW!"
Without hesitation, Mo grinned wildly, took two heavy steps forward, and leapt into the air, bringing his shield crashing down onto the Oger's skull.
CRACK!
The Oger's huge frame staggered.
"HOLD HIS LEFT ARM, BROTHER!" Hürs shouted again, voice cutting through the chaos.
Mo wrestled the arm down with all his strength, planting a foot on the Oger's chest for leverage.
Hürs darted forward like a flash, sword gleaming, and stabbed the creature's massive palm, pinning it deep into the earth.
"SAISHI—FINISH IT!"
Without a word, Saishi sprinted, his axe flashing in the light of Burk's floating orb.
One mighty swing—
CHUNK!
He split the Oger's skull wide open.
The beast twitched once, then lay still.
Saishi stood over the corpse, breathing hard but smiling. His aura still crackled faintly around him.
"That was fantastic!" he said, grinning ear to ear.
The moment of victory didn't last long.
They turned back to Afiri's broken body — the sad, pitiful figure of a boy who'd barely spoken before death claimed him.
"Poor soul..." Hürs said quietly, kneeling beside him.
"Yeah…" Saishi added. "We should at least bury—"
A strange sound stopped him mid-sentence.
A tiny ember flickered from Afiri's chest.
"What the—?" Burk whispered.
The spark erupted into a blaze.
Fire roared from the body, towering high enough to scorch the cave ceiling.
"RUN!"
Hürs' command snapped the group into motion. They sprinted back, shielding their faces from the heat.
From within the burning corpse, a shape started to form.
As the fire faded, a figure stood there — alive.
Naked. Untouched. Smiling.
It was Afiri.
The same Afiri.
"What the FUCK?!" Jibo shouted, drawing his dagger.
"Get ready!" Hürs barked, weapons drawn.
But the boy just waved awkwardly.
"Hey, guys! Whoaaah, you killed that Oger! Good job, man!"
He looked completely oblivious to the chaos.
The group stayed tense.
"You DIED," Hürs said sharply. "You shouldn't be breathing."
Afiri scratched his head.
"Yeeeaah... About that... I can't die. Sorry."
"You can't—WHAT?!"
The Cozy Warriors stared at him as if he'd just flipped the world upside down.
Afiri's smile faded into something sadder.
"Please… don't leave me here. I've been alone so long... every day... every hour... this cave is eating me. I want to feel alive again. I want... friends."
The desperation in his voice cracked something inside Saishi.
Without hesitation, Saishi stepped forward, placing a firm hand on Hürs' shoulder.
"I vouch for him."
Hürs turned, shocked.
"What?! Brother, we can't just—"
"I said I vouch for him, Brother," Saishi said, eyes burning serious.
Something... something inside Saishi had been whispering since they entered the cave.
And now, it screamed:
Trust him.
Hürs breathed out hard.
"…Alright. Tell us, Afiri. What are you?"
"I'm just Afiri," the boy said.
"I don't know why I'm like this. Every day... I wake up. I train. I carve another line."
Burk casted Light across the cavern.
The walls—
Covered.
Thousands upon thousands of tallies.
"H-Holy shit…" Burk whispered.
"You've been trapped here for centuries," Jibo muttered.
Afiri scratched his head again.
"Maaaybe... 25 years old?"
Jibo facepalmed.
"He's not all there…" he mumbled.
Despite it all, Afiri's words were sincere.
The group huddled for a quick decision.
"He's strong," Burk said.
"He's funny HAHAHA!" Mo laughed.
"We need numbers for our guild anyway," Hürs added.
From behind them, Afiri's voice cracked:
"Please... let me come with you... I just... want to feel something again…"
The group went silent.
Finally—
Saishi smiled wide.
"Welcome to the Cozy Warriors, Brother."
----------------------------------------------------
✨ New Party Member: Afiri – Phoenix Curse ✨
➤ Unknown Class
➤ Phoenix Curse: Upon death, the body combusts and fully revives.
➤ Resilience: Possesses unbreakable spirit, but fragmented long-term memory and Inteligence.
----------------------------------------------------
With laughter finally filling the air again, the team mined the cavern:
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🔷 Magnil Ore — elite material for anti-mage gear.
🔮 Larus Stone — precious for magic amplification.
----------------------------------------------------
They packed everything into Saishi's enchanted bag.
Mission accomplished.
As they approached the cave entrance, a figure blocked the light.
Taurus.
He stood there, arms crossed, a mocking smile on his face.
"Well, well… you killed the Oger. Not bad. Not bad at all."
His gaze drifted to Afiri.
"And who's your... new friend?"
Saishi opened his mouth—
WHAM.
Mo's elbow hit him hard in the ribs.
"He's... an old friend from the city," Hürs said quickly.
"Supposed to meet us here."
Taurus narrowed his eyes.
"I see... You're lying."
The smile faded.
His hand dropped to his sword.
"I don't care what Alexandrus ordered."
Taurus' aura exploded outward—dark, violent, predatory.
"I'm going to kill you.
All of you."
Hürs stepped forward, fire burning in his eyes.
He raised his sword.
And with a voice like thunder, he bellowed:
"PREPARE!"
The final clash in the burning lands of Larsa was about to ignite.