Later that day Kazuma and Aqua walked in.
Svetislav had spent the rest of his afternoon resting, thinking.
At first they didn't recognize his hooded figure, but once he called them, they did.
"Ey, you two!"
"Yo. Man, i couldn't recognize you in that attire. What happened?"
"Beat a thief for it."
"... Well, you do you i guess... But how did you get in that situation?"
"I don't want to talk about it." - Svetislav said, clearly to hide the fact that he is sleeping on the streets.
"Alright then." With that the three sat at a table and ordered some food.
The food was tastier than usual. It felt earned.
But the part after definitely wasn't.
He knew this wasn't necessary, but he didn't want to waste money either.
Was he just paranoid: yes. Was it justified: maybe?
It was easier to sleep. After thirty minutes of comforting himself, he rested fully onto the not so cold ground.
Does this bring you happiness? Fulfilment?
The next morning was like the one before, but the pain was weaker.
The morning sun brushed against him lightly preparing the world for the warmth it promised.
His being was filled with Grace, Peace, Happiness.
He sat up and rested for a second, before standing up.
After which he went to the guild, ready to take on another quest.
The toad quest seems to have been reset, another one was stuck to the quest board.
But he would need to make more spears.
He took the quest and went to the same patch of young trees, cutting them with a stone which he used to slowly saw, fearing that he might damage the dagger more.
This made the process slower, but it was safer...
'Work is plentiful, there is far more to do than what it seems at the moment.'
The hours passed in the process, but it felt fulfilling, working with the hands.
Once the sticks were prepared, he sharpened them and carried them on his back, using the belt which held the dagger. This way he maximized it's utility. The first toad came, throw one, another came, another fell. The job was finished soon enough. And all that without much of a struggle.
The feeling of accomplishment was enough to satisfy him for today, which day was spent in chipping rocks into a better saw, simply because there would probably be a need for more spears in the future.
He returned to the guild later that day, took his reward and rested.
From there the days were pretty repetitive, wake up, KILL, shower, get reward, eat, sleep.
When he felt like it, he even joined Kazuma and Aqua at the construction site to build some muscles with the heavy stuff that he has to carry. His meals also became more plentiful, after all the body needs more nutrition to regenerate. He woke up with a smile, though the repeating cycle began to get boring.
Soon enough, he had spend an entire week in this weird world, so he decided to take a break for today, and sharpen some stones for no particular reason.
This brought him back to his earlier years, oh the childhood which happened a year before, him going with his family to mountain, maybe have a picnic, giving him enough time to settle in nature...
He never had much memories of nature beyond that... So much had he passed, so much pain had he experienced... Yet he simply lives, trying to do the best thing he could. He is happy, seeing how far he has come.
By the end of the day he was in another philosophical phase, just like old times, when he struggled with sin, when he struggled with moments. There was Peace, knowing that he had passed those days, and yet a certain uncertainty, hidden in the fog of the future.
"Do not fear..."
He took a shower, then to the guild to eat with his friends.
They talked with him about joining him in a killing quest, but he didn't need more money, he had a lot, too much for the time being. So he promised them to not take his cut and allow them to claim it for their own.
This night he rest outside the wall, lest on the street on more on the grass. The softness of the earth was welcoming, the vastness above welcomed him to gaze deeply.
A moment to praise Creation, and a moment to rest the mind. Soon the darkness became true and he fell asleep.
The morning that followed was the most delightful yet, no back pain, and all the benefits from the other.
He waited patiently for his friends to come.
And so, soon enough, they arrived, Kazuma with a short-sword and Aqua, with some flower staff thingy.
"You could have just ask me for a spear."
"Yeah, but that felt unearned."
"Definitely." - Svetislav gave him a suspicious look, cuz Kazuma didn't even sound confident in what he said. But anyways. - "Wanna attempt to throw a spear?"
"Sure." - Kazuma replied trying to sound cool and nonchalant, but that just made him look weird in Svetislav's eyes.
He threw Kazuma a spear(not with the edge towards Kazuma), who caught it and prepared.
The first throw failed miserably.
"Grab it and try again." - Svetislav encouraged, because this was a skill worth learning.
Kazuma did that and failed, he gave up.
Svetislav didn't force him to try again, it wasn't his choice to make.
But he did show how it's properly done, setting example.
A toad fell by his spear.
With that Svetislav set them free, immediately Kazuma got chased by a toad, yelling to be saved.
He lacked bravery, though he can't blame him.
When Svetislav didn't provide he yelled for Aqua, who straight up made him call her "lady Aqua", and then proceeded to list what he would do, starting from tomorrow.
The toad looked at her, and began moving towards her.
Svetislav walked back. - "Aqua."
"What?"
"Look."
Before she could turn she was already bitten by that same toad.
Svetislav rushed onto the toad's back and positioned himself in a way to help Kazuma save her.
He seemed to catch on the que and rushed, using Svetislav's help to launch himself up.
"Now stab directly at the center of it's head."
Kazuma did that, and so the toad died.
Aqua was left crying, thanking Kazuma for saving her.
Kazuma decides that it's best for them to retreat, but Aqua doesn't feel the same way, she straight up began talking about how her reputation as a goddess would be ruined if the town's folk saw her in this state, bested by a toad.
"No one thinks you are a goddess in the first place." - Svetislav commented, which offended her, but she saw something else.
She ran towards a toad that she saw in the distance and prepared some attack called 'god(lil g) blow'. It failed and she got eaten again.
Kazuma had to save her again, but this time Svetislav let him do it alone. After all, he wanted them capable to deal with it themselves.
After that is done they return in town, bath and then food. Also Kazuma refused to accept the first toad that Svetislav killed, because they didn't do anything to help with it. So Svetislav was now 5000 Eris richer.
After dinner it was time to rest, the earth beckoned.