Chapter 19: Kael's Goal
Kael didn't know how long he had been sleeping. The next time he opened his eyes, it was already morning, and he found himself inside an unknown wooden cabin.
"Where am I?" Kael looked around his surroundings with caution.
The wooden cabin was fairly simple. It has a wooden bed next to a window with a white silky-smooth cover that he is using right now. On the side of the bed, there's a wooden cabinet with a kerosene lamp on top. A few steps in front, there's a wooden table next to another window with two wooden chairs opposite each other. Then, a few more steps from there, there's a stone fireplace where a curved wooden rocking chair is relatively close by. And to the left of the rocking chair was an open door that welcomed the sunrays inside the wooden cabin.
Seeing that nothing was posing any danger to him, Kael slowly stood up from the bed and made his way towards the door.
A bright light instantly greeted Kael as he stepped out of the wooden cabin.
He raised a hand above his head to block the ray of light as his eyes gradually adjusted, allowing him to see his surroundings more clearly.
"Kael!"
Suddenly, a voice called out from the side.
Kael was very familiar with the voice, so he quickly looked for its source.
It was Lawrence. He was holding an axe while chopping down a piece of a log on what seemed to be a stump of a tree.
Lawrence started approaching while muttering, "How are you feeling?"
"I'm mostly okay, I guess." Kael could no longer feel any ache, numbness, or pain in his body. "How long was I sleeping, and where are we exactly?"
"You only slept for the entire night. And rest assured, we are in a safe place," Lawrence chuckled.
"Did you perhaps build it?" Kael was highly doubtful about that, but he still wanted to give Lawrence the benefit of the doubt.
"Of course not!" Lawrence shook his head and chuckled. "This wooden cabin is Manager Drex's."
"Manager Drex?" Kael instinctively became cautious, and his guard heightened. He already mentioned before that even though Manager Drex would eventually end up becoming an enemy of Nexus, that was in the future, not at the present. There's no telling what the latter is planning on doing at the moment. "Where's my sword? Did you see my sword?"
"It's over there, by the door!" Lawrence pointed, confused at Kael's action. The latter suddenly became restless upon the mention of Manager Drex.
Not wasting a second thought, Kael swiftly took his sword and tightened his grip as he observed the surroundings.
*Swoosh!
Bluish particles of light suddenly appeared right in front of Kael as someone's figure slowly materialized.
Without any hesitation, Kael prepared to brandish his sword at the figure.
However, he quickly stopped himself as the figure turned out to be Jayem.
"Kael, you're finally awake!" Jayem said in delight.
"What is that?" Kael pointed at the pot that Jayem was carrying.
"I was hoping you'd wake up soon, so I cooked you some soup using the ingredients from Avalon," Jayem explained as his eyes glanced at Kael's arm, which seemed prepared to slash in his direction. "What are you doing?"
"I thought you were somebody else," Kael immediately lowered his weapon.
Jayem understood why. "Are you worried that Manager Drex is going to do us harm?"
"Yes!" Kael still didn't drop his guard as his eyes surveyed their surroundings, searching for any figure that was hiding nearby.
"You don't have to worry about Manager Drex," Jayem assured as he stepped inside the cabin to put the pot on the table.
"You can never tell what the people from Nexus are thinking," Kael believes that anyone from Nexus can't be trusted. Only people who are not part of Nexus or have left Nexus could be trusted. After all, those people are very much aware of what the organization they are part of is doing to Noverra and is planning on doing with Avalon, yet they still remain silent and do everything their leaders order them to do like an obedient dog.
"Manager Drex is already planning to leave Nexus. He's just preparing some matters in Avalon before submitting his resignation," Jayem casually dropped.
"Huh?" Kael's eyes widened as he turned the direction of his head to Jayem, who was already sitting in the chair and staring at the window next to the table.
"I don't know why you are so cautious with Nexus. I can understand if it's because they destroyed Rustfall, but it seems like that's not the case at all," Jayem looks at Kael. "I won't force you to tell me about it, but I do want to know your story someday, when you're ready to tell us."
"I appreciate that," Kael smiled gratefully. He finally decided to let down his guard and approach Jayem.
Kael, Lawrence, and Jayem spent an hour eating their breakfast and talking about what happened when he was asleep.
It was then that Kael found out it was actually Manager Drex who carried him while unconscious. No wonder the back felt so unfamiliar to him.
What happened was, Jayem suddenly barged inside the house while Lawrence and Manager Drex were talking about Avalon last night. The former didn't bother hiding Kael's situation, and upon learning that, Manager Drex asked if they happened to have any spare computers, which they did since Jayem had a computer, and it just so happens that he can't get into Avalon yet because of the cooldown. Moreover, it also just so happens that Manager Drex was close to their current location in Avalon.
Because of the urgency of the situation, both Lawrence and Jayem didn't bother asking how and why, and immediately jumped into action to save Kael.
That was why it took some time for Lawrence to reach Kael, because he had to wait for Manager Drex.
Meanwhile, Johnny's Junk Shop is having an internal strife right now after finding out that their gang boss, second-in-command, and third-in-command had died in an unknown world called Avalon. At the moment, the highest-ranking members left in the gang are debating on what to do with the newly discovered information about the existence of a new world and realizing the potential it could bring to their gang from the document that Nexus provided.
If the internal strife isn't fixed and the highest-ranking members keep on focusing on what to do with Avalon, then the gang should cease to exist soon.
That's one problem they don't have to worry gone.
As for the matter with Manager Drex, both Lawrence and Jayem vouched for him that there's nothing to worry about. Manager Drex also personally told them that as long as they are considered his customers, not Nexus customers, he will do his best to serve them with whatever means are necessary. Meaning, it's part of his responsibility to protect them as long as they are making him earn money.
That's right, Manager Drex only cares about money. Not because he is greedy and worships money like a God, but because he needs it for his family.
Kael could confirm that it was the truth because Manager Drex's family is indeed in dire need of cash.
As soon as they were finished with breakfast, it was finally time for the main issue that the trio had agreed needed to be discussed today.
Jayem called out. "Kael!"
"I know," Kael could already guess what this was going to be all about.
"I'll say it anyway," Jayem's eyes turned serious. "I know you've gathered us here in Avalon for a reason. I don't know what nor why, but we need to know about it before we proceed with any steps of whatever plans you've prepared for the future."
"That's right!" Lawrence nodded and continued, "We've both agreed to follow you already, so we want to know what your plans are from here on out. That way, we can prepare ourselves for whatever is coming in our way. After all, we all value our lives, and none of us wants to die."
"I understand," Kael was aware of that. It's also about time that he makes everything official.
Deciding to no longer beat around the bush, Kael explained, "First and foremost, my goal is to become a global superpower, not only in Noverra, but also in Avalon."
Lawrence and Kael immediately looked at each other, both showing a shocked expression on their faces. Initially, they thought that since they already had an idea of what Kael was going to say, they would simply nod their heads to express that they agreed, then proceed with their efforts to prepare for the future.
Just how mistaken they were.
Turns out just having an idea and hearing the truth coming from Kael's mouth was going to be completely different. In fact, they didn't even expect the latter's goal would be to become one of the top few people in Noverra. And not only that, he wants to reach the top in Avalon as well. And here they were believing that his goal was simply to create a group to become rich.