Gnev approached the abandoned village with confidence, walking casually. As he entered the ruins, he wasn't shocked by the corpses and wreckage in front of him, as if he already knew of it. He looked at the unresponsive Magibeast and pierced through its defenses to grab the core.
He then approached the unconscious Pablo. "Don't know why the Big Boss is really interested in you, what's so special about you anyway?"
The man crouched down to check his injuries, only to see nothing actually fatal. He easily relocated his shoulder with just a swift move of his hand. He took off his ring, then started dragging him across the floor. "Well, we'll soon find out won't we?"
Gnev made it to his horsewagon, dropped Pablo in the back, and hid him with a blanket. He put the Magibeast's core inside a bag and handcuffed Pablo to the cart, then got in his seat and started the horses.
The horses rode through the path and headed for the city. As Gnev was known in Thornrest, the guards didn't stop him as he passed through, so they never found out what was in the wagon.
After a long while, possibly for hours, Pablo woke up inside a room he didn't recognise. It didn't look like he was chained to anything, which would make his escape pretty easy.
"Where the hell am I?" He groaned, feeling his body's soreness. He coughed his lungs out and vomited purple blood all over the floor. He put a hand on his throat and took a deep breath. He looked at his shoulder and realised it wasn't dislocated anymore. "Huh." He got up and looked at his surroundings.
The room didn't look like a jail cell, but resembled a dorm room. (Which is something Pablo has never seen before.) There was no window, so Pablo didn't know how high up he was.
He thought of a plan to escape, but a sharp headache hit him. He heard the walls and the doors screaming at him, inaudibly. Usually this weird ability of his was almost subconscious, though right now it had gone haywire.
"Ugh!" He held his head, and fell on his knees.
Upon looking at his hands, he realised his ring was gone. He gasped and looked around him, ignoring his headache. He started panicking. "No…"
The panic and worry on his face were replaced with anger, his breathing became labored. He dashed out of the room and ran through the halls. The person outside his door, someone he didn't recognise, yelled out after him. "Gnev, your guy! Incoming!"
Pablo didn't focus on what the man said, and kept running. He seemed to be on the second floor of a bar, which had many rooms like the one Pablo stayed in. Just as he was about to exit the hallway and go downstairs, Gnev came around the corner. "Wakey wakey."
Pablo kept running, he didn't seem like he was about to hit the brakes. "My… Treasure!" He growled.
Gnev opened his right arm, and the crook of his elbow caught Pablo's jaw. Without struggle, he slammed Pablo down on the floor. This didn't stop him, and he tried to break free with rage. "Give me back my fucking ring, I'll kill you even if my head explodes in the process!" He yelled.
Gnev laughed and pinned Pablo to the floor, shifting his weight onto him. "Don't worry about your little ring. We'll give it to you later. Now calm down or I'll put you to sleep again!"
He stopped actively kicking Gnev, but still had the anger on his face. "What are you talking about? Why would you save my life?!" He yelled out.
"If it was up to me, I would've already split you in half." Gnev slammed him again. "Trust me, I'd find a way to get back up!" He spat on Gnev's face. "Give me back my ring!"
People on the second floor watched the interaction with curiosity and fear at the same time. "You're a stubborn bastard, ain't ya?!" Gnev started choking Pablo.
"That's enough, sweetheart." A woman behind Gnev spoke out. Pablo could recognise the voice pretty easily, but he really wasn't able to talk right now. When he looked behind Gnev, he could see who that really was.
Kori, in all her glory. Somehow here with him. After Kori's command, Gnev let go of Pablo. "You've avoided death 3 times today, lucky you." He muttered.
"Huh?! It's… you?" Pablo gasped for air and struggled to do so. He slowly got up and looked at Kori, his headache hitting him once more. "Why- How are you here?"
She nodded and smiled. "I'm working with the big boss now. You're not the only one trying to save Tsuyoi." Pablo stared at her in disbelief. "I… see."
"I believe… you'd like to meet him." As she noticed him struggling to walk, she approached him and put her arm around his waist in a mildly flirty manner. "Thanks…" Pablo blurted out, a little embarrassed.
Gnev watched the two leave with annoyance, and wiped the spit from his face.
"Who the hell is this guy, why are you working with him, why would I like to meet him and what the hell are you doing in Thornskar?" Pablo asked.
Kori chuckled, rained upon with questions. "You'll get them answered in a second. As for your ring, don't worry. It's with me, in my pocket. But you cannot wear it right now, you'll just have to trust me." She smiled at him.
Knowing that, out of all people, she had the ring somehow comforted Pablo.
"Okay. I get that." He groaned, his vision almost blurry. They walked down the stairs, and went behind the bartender into a room leading to another set of stairs that eventually led to the basement. The basement looked quite comfortable, not what he was expecting of a 'Mafia Office'. It looked similar to a dojo, with many places to eat and train. People side-eyed Pablo and whispered to each other, which made him uncomfortable. "I'll leave you two alone, now." She let go of Pablo when they got to the final door.
"Right." He nodded, and looked at the door. He took a deep breath, his hands shaking with anxiety and fear.
He gathered up the courage to open it and braced himself for the worst. Only to find a room similar to his, except bigger and more full. The bed had two women with fruit bowls in their hands. And the man they fed…
"This isn't fucking real." He muttered out in disbelief.
"Oh, namesake! You're finally awake!" Haisha said, munching on the grapes he was being fed. "Glad you're okay!"
Pablo stood there, frozen and speechless. A blank expression with a hint of disappointment on it. "Please don't tell me you're-"
"Oh, by the way, I'm the big boss they were talking about." He licked his fingers clean.
Pablo facepalmed at the reveal. "Of course." He felt his knees weaken while the adrenaline wore off. He approached Haisha and sat at the open spot on the bed. "You already made yourself comfortable, good for you!" Haisha smiled.
Pablo sighed and looked at the kid casually lying there. "Uhm… Miss nice women, could you please give me some time alone with my buddy?" Haisha said.
"Sure thing, big boss." The women nodded and smiled, and left the fruit bowl next to the bed before leaving the room. "He isn't a boss! And he isn't big either!" Pablo called out after them.
"What are you doing here?" Haisha asked him once the women left.
Pablo looked around in shock and frustration. "What am I- YOU TOOK ME HERE!" Pablo yelled.
Haisha looked at him like a deer caught in headlights, then placed his hand on his neck in embarrassment. "Oh, silly me!" He chuckled. "You have some explaining to do." Pablo massaged his head to relieve his headache.
"Why did you leave Thalorien and how did you even become… 'The Big Boss'? That's a stupid name by the way." He pointed out. Haisha waved his hand in dismissal. "I didn't do it on purpose, not really. I asked how I could jailbreak my brother out of Hades." He sat back up.
"Genius." Pablo muttered.
"Then a few people got angry, I punched them, and I met this nice lady who said she knew my brother-" Before Haisha could finish, Pablo interrupted him. "Wait wait. You punched them? You punched your way here?"
Haisha casually nodded. "Ye."
"You can't be that strong." At this point, Pablo just gave up. "That's rude. Anyway as I was saying, this nice lady and I kept punching my way like you said, then a few punches later I found myself here. These people are very nice for whatever reason." He reached out for the fruit bowl and grabbed a banana. He started eating it without peeling it. "You want some?" He held it out to Pablo.
"I think I'll pass." Pablo rolled his eyes. "You alright, by the way? Gnev said you got into a fight." Haisha started stretching.
"A fight?" He raised an eyebrow. He then got lost in his own thoughts, as if trying to remember something. "Strange. I… don't remember anything." When he tried to remember, his headache almost quadrupled. "Agh!" He yelled out in pain.
"He said you took down like 2 people and a Magibeast." Haisha started to get worried for Pablo. "You okay?" He asked.
"If that happened, I'd remember it. Believe me." He groaned. "What the hell is happening to me? I can't even trust my own mind?" He clenched his fist.
"Don't worry. We can play board games here, it'll train your mind!" Haisha patted his back.
"We have no time for that! Your brother is suffering in a prison cell and you're here playing mafia!" Pablo furrowed his brows.
"I don't see how that's relevant, namesake!" Haisha got worked up too. "Of course it is! Isn't that why you left Thalorien in the first place?" He yelled, and his voice caught the attention of people outside the room. "Yeah- but… uhm…" Haisha tried to find a comeback, an excuse, an explanation. But nothing came to mind.
"I'm with Pablo on this one." Kori said. Both Haisha and Pablo flinched. She was standing by the door. They both didn't notice her entering the room. Haisha was shocked and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Big Sis?! Why?! It's not like he is going anywhere, right?" He yelled.
"I wouldn't be sure of that. Just the other day, they announced Tsuyoi would be executed in 2 weeks." She leaned against the door behind her. "Executed?!" They said in unison. "What are we going to do? I'm in this stupid burnout thing."
She placed a hand on her chin and nodded. "That is true. When the brain gets overloaded by Treasury, a neurological shock puts the brain into such a fragile state any form of Treasury risks permanent brain damage. Normally this is the case for only such complex abilities, ones you cannot even fathom."
"Then why am I in burnout? And can I use mana?" Pablo tilted his head, having a hard time taking in the information. "I don't know. You've been juggling mana for a while now, right? I think that's why you're in burnout, despite having a simple Treasure."
He nodded in understanding. "Okay, but how long would it take for me to heal?" As he asked this, Kori got lost in thought. "1-2 weeks, give or take. Though given that your body is already actively trying to fight the mana inside you, they won't have that much time to heal your brain, so it might even take longer."
Pablo looked down at the floor. "That's too long…"
Haisha looked at Kori with worry on his face. "What should we do?"
Kori shrugged. "I don't really know. But it's a physical phenomenon, not a magical one." She opened the door to exit the room. Before leaving, she turned her head towards Pablo in a manner he really couldn't understand. "Only if Tsuyoi was here, he could've healed it."
She left the room.
Her words hit him like a truck. Pablo could actually feel the physical impact.
And that, for whatever reason, ignited something within Pablo.