The Earth After Rebirth

Kiro woke up the next day with a splitting headache. He didn't even want to move his head, the best he could do to let hubris know that he was awake was groaning. Not too loud, as that would disturb his sleep.

But Hubris didn't come, there was no sign that he was inside the shelter. He didn't bother with him anymore, as the pain demanded to be listened to.

'I'm gonna die here isn't it.' He thought to himself, he'd never experienced a hangover, even if he had, it would've been child's play compared to this.

Hubris walked in like he was being chased by demons.

"Master, you're awake. Went to catch this shellfish for you, apparently it makes you better after a night of ocean fun."

"Ocean fun?" Kiro couldn't help but chuckle.

He took the shellfish nonetheless, he didn't waste any time and started eating them. There were 3, so finished them quick and after 30 minutes, it was as if nothing was ever sore.

"Wow, this is the best medicine." He complimented.

He looked through his storage space and It was by luck that he had stocked up a lot, he had even halted Hubris' punishment, everything seemed to work, even the storage space. He just couldn't get ahold of the system.

"I think we ought to leave this campsite tomorrow. It's not like we can go back the way we came."

"But, what if this is home, my home?"

"Then you're home."

Hubris gave Kiro a solemn look, even though he had said his home didn't matter to him back then, it did. He wanted to liberate them from the tyrannical King that now sat where he was supposed to.

But he knew this would require for another King in the stead of the previous one. He couldn't just topple a kingdom without a proper plan, else he'd see the end of his people.

This was something he needed to think long and hard about, if he does interfere he'd have to stay and be King. But now that he had tasted freedom, being imprisoned in a chair wouldn't satisfy him. It was a dilemma.

The next day's sky was a sight to see, it was actually, on fire. The sky looked like bright orange burning coals, the grey clouds looked like grey smoke escape every bits of the burn to be free, one with the wind.

Except, it didn't have the suffocating smell fires always carried. So, by Kiro's standards it was the most beautiful thing.

He was rooted in place looking at it.

"Hubris, the sky, the sky is burning."

Hubris wasn't paying him attention, he was in his own head, having his own flashbacks to when he watched the burning sky with his father.

'Cerberus, everything here, from the greens to the burning skies, will be yours.' His father told him, looking proud and majestic.

Hubris was of course, still too young to grasp any of the sayings his father attempted to ingrain in him. He had even forgotten he had a name.

He scoffed at the pitiful memory, he wouldn't discard his name, no, but his true name now was Hubris. He served only one master and that was the man looking dumbly at a sky on fire as if it was the most valuable thing.

"Hubris, this is your home isn't it?" Kiro asked him, not taking his eyes off the sky.

"Yes." He answered honestly, there was no point in lying since they could more or less feel what the other felt.

"Do you want revenge?"

Hubris didn't answer, he was torn between two places. He didn't want to drag Kiro into his personal vendetta. He'd already sworn loyalty to this person, therefore, he couldn't do anything about it.

"Remember what I told you when you were dying? I want us to be comrades, if you need help, you only need to say it."

He didn't wait for him to reply, and started his walk forward. His eyes were still disoriented from looking at flames for a very long time, he walked nonetheless.

Hubris said nothing in response, in all honesty, he was still pondering about what his next step should be, he had no idea whether he wanted to help or not.

He wanted to think about it thoroughly, he was relieved that Kiro wasn't pushing him in any other way. He just left it all up to him.

They could no longer hear the waves now, they were deep in a land neither knew anything about. Even the native was tossed out before he could know anything.

They had no idea what to expect of the environment they found themselves in. But there was much to explore, so they went. It was the direction Hubris didn't explore in his 15 days.

He had encountered unfathomable dangers on his journeys. He would come back sometimes wounded, he had told Kiro all about the possible attacks, from animals to the trees, to the birds that you wouldn't suspect had the ability to dig into skins.

Kiro had used a lot of potions for him, he was almost running out. It was a shame he couldn't even contact Hiro. If he said this didn't scare him, he'd be lying. According to Hubris, he'd been in that coma for 6 months.

6 months in-game was more than 6 days in real life. That would mean he'd missed a lot of school days. He wondered what the real world was doing about it?

He knew one thing, he was in his room, the system wouldn't allow anyone in his dorm room unless Kiro's vitals were detoriating. That's the only emergency the system would allow anyone in without Kiro's DNA.

The system wasn't coded to understand urgencies such as school classes, only when the owner of the room is close to death will it alarm others.

So he was almost at ease because of that, nobody would enter his room and jerk the head gear out of his head. Which was a dangerous thing to do, as its connected to your brain nerves, being forcefully removed could cause brain damage.

While everyone knew that, it would also be the only way to awake the player. As much as they were evolved, they still needed nutrients. He hoped it didn't come to that.