Chương 36: What The Future Holds

Joe appeared in the middle of a deathly silent bubble. Nineteen faces turned to look at him. No one spoke; they just stared in disbelief. Even Esha, who had seen him fight before, looked at him like she was seeing him for the first time. He realized then how much his battle with Goros must have shocked them. It had been quite the fight. He raised his arms. [Ladies and gentlemen. I can explain.] Over the next ten minutes, Joe lost count of how many people hugged him.

It had to be more than twenty, some must have returned for seconds. Even Kai and Hakeem, his two stoic friends, had hugged him. He nearly fainted when they did. Now, he sat at the large table, exhaustion seeping into his bones as everyone else settled around him. Esha was to his right, Alice sat to his left for some reason. The two women occasionally glared at each other. Joe ignored them, focusing on the ache in his body. [I don't understand why we didn't start with Joe.] - Toni. [I agree. The Progenitor is so strong, so why did anyone else fight?] - Eddie. [And what did you even do? We did all the fighting. Who are you to complain?] - Esha. Embarrassed looks and a few mumbled apologies followed that message. [Don't be ungrateful. We all came here not knowing what to expect. And we were all protected by the system. Be thankful the Farmer is nice enough not to punch your face in.] - Esha. Joe was too tired to interject, but he was glad, and a little surprised, by Esha's aggressive defence of him.

That was until… [Besides, I will punish him for not stepping up earlier and saving us a lot of time.] - Esha.

"Lazy farmer. You should know better," Esha teased, winking at him. Joe laughed. He laughed and laughed until his sides hurt, until he had to lean over the table for support.

"Here," Alice said, offering him a bottle of water with a smile. Joe was about to accept when Esha snatched the bottle from her hands, removed the cap with a twist, and rather forcefully shoved the bottle into Joe's mouth.

"Esha, holy cow," Joe wheezed once his mouth wasn't full of water.

"We really need to have a talk about your..." Esha raised an eyebrow. Joe quickly diverted his gaze back down to her arm.

"... Arm. Seriously, how is it connected to your shoulder? Wires? Is it grafted on?" Joe made a show of examining her shoulder. Before Esha could respond, a new notification popped up in his vision. Resource Grab Message Congratulations to World 43 on its victory. Based on contribution, rewards will be distributed. All representatives will receive a reward. The future is in your own hands. Strive ever forward on your path to reintegration. In ten minutes, you will be teleported back to your previous locations.

Great, Joe thought, back to the middle of nowhere in central Madagascar. He sighed. The party chat was filled with messages of thanks and appreciation. Everyone wished each other the best, and plans were made to meet up after they returned.

"Farmer, don't forget Drish's letter when you land in Madagascar. And you need to come back to India as soon as you can. Or I will hunt you down." Esha warned.

"I will, I promise. As soon as I get off that blasted island, I'll head to India," Joe assured her. Esha nodded in approval. She was being very insistent about him heading there, and he couldn't help but wonder why. His mind drifted back to when she had said he was taken. Were they planning to marry him off? He shook his head. Surely not. If that was the case, he would teleport so fast they'd never see him again. He chuckled to himself.

"Thank you again, Joe, for everything." Alice's voice came from beside him. Joe glanced at her, noticing Esha shooting her a sharp glare.

"How's the Divine Sword doing?" Joe asked, changing the subject. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

"He's healing. Thankfully, it's mostly his ego that was bruised. Thanks to your pills, he will be as good as new soon." Joe pulled another small bag from his storage and handed it to her.

"Take these." Alice started to protest, but Joe waved her off..

"I'll be making lots more anyway," he assured her.

"After I sleep for a week." Alice hesitated but eventually took the bag, giving him one last goodbye before heading back to her group..

"Okay, Esha. You keep looking at me weird. Say what's on your mind," Joe said after noticing Esha grimace at him for the tenth time in a row..

"Just read the letter; you will understand," she said, standing up abruptly.

"I need to say goodbye to Gao." Without another word, she rushed off.. Now Joe was starting to worry. What the hell was in that letter? He contemplated pulling it out and reading it now, but decided against it as Kai and Hakeem walked over.

"Dude, that fight was insane. I thought we were about equal, but damn, man. How high are your stats?" Joe chuckled. Then he remembered something important, he had hit level fifty in his profession, and it had evolved. He quickly checked his status. Nature's Guardian(Legendary) - As Nature's Guardian, it is your privilege to guide and protect the natural world around you. You have been bestowed with Nature's gifts as she regarded you as her favourite. Nature will never fail you as you will never fail Nature.

You gain a moderate boost in all skills while surrounded by nature. All stats increase by 5% while surrounded By Nature. Wow, he thought. He liked this new profession a lot. A significant boost when fighting in nature, which was nearly always. He also had two new skills. Nature's Barding - Nature has deemed you worthy of being protected at all costs. Using the power of the Luna tree, you can now summon armour around you made from the strongest wood in the Multiverse.

This wood will absorb an enormous amount of damage before being dispelled. Nature's Guidance - As you are one with Nature, so is Nature one with you. Whenever you find yourself in a new place, you can now activate Nature's Guidance once a day to ping a large portion of the area around you, revealing it on your mini-map, showing you all inhabited locations, and any living creatures will appear on your mini-map for a short period after the ping. Now, truly, no one can hide from you in Nature.

Both of those skills sounded amazing and incredibly useful. Joe shook his head, pushing the thoughts aside. He didn't want to get lost in his own mind and run out of time to talk to his friends before they all teleported out.

"Depends what stats we are talking about," Joe finally answered, glancing at Kai and Hakeem.

"Minus gear boosts my Intellect and Wisdom are at nine hundred, while my agility is almost seven hundred and fifty." He grinned, conveniently leaving out the fact that his gear gave him an extra hundred points in Agility alone. From the side, Felicia choked on whatever she was drinking and stared at him, mouth hanging open. Joe blinked. Oops. He had forgotten there were other English speakers present. Slowly, he pressed a finger to his lips, then put his hands together in a silent plea of secrecy.

Felicia nodded at him profusely before quickly turning away, her face bright red. Joe sighed. She'd probably last five minutes before spilling the secret once she was back in the US. Oh well.

"You monster," Hakeem muttered, shaking his head.

"Well, my strength is higher than yours, at least, with your mage stats."

"Hundred per cent," Joe shot back, grinning. The three of them spent the rest of their time talking and making plans to catch up once Joe was back in Europe. With one minute left, Alice suddenly ran up to him and pressed a note into his hand.

"Our City Pillar is in Missouri. Make sure you visit when you get to America," she said with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Before Joe could respond, she leaned in, gave him a quick, full-lipped kiss smack on his mouth, and ran back to her group. Joe's instincts flared in warning; his Esha senses screamed danger. Slowly, cautiously, he turned to face her, his expression the picture of innocence. Not my fault, he mentally pleaded. Esha didn't say a word. She just glared at him.

A few seconds later, all twenty representatives of World 43 disappeared and teleported back to where they had come from. After a full day of deep, dreamless sleep, Joe sat in the heart of Madagascar, a small envelope in his hands. He finally felt ready to get back into the swing of things. His next goal was clear: reach level fifty in his Class and see what evolution awaited him. After that, it would be boss-killing time once again.

But before that, though, he had taken a peek at his reward for being one of the top five contributors in the Resource Grab. It turned out to be a map. A simple parchment with one word scrawled on it, Gate. The marked location? Southwestern China. No additional details, no explanations, just a Gate marked in the middle of nowhere. He sighed and tucked it into his storage ring. Just another thing to worry about when I return to Asia. He remembered a note, pulling it from his storage. It was short and sweet.

A hand-drawn map of the US showing the location of the Gate there and a brief message from Alice hinting that she would like him to come visit quickly for a… debriefing and information exchange. For some reason, the words 'Information Exchange' were surrounded by hearts… He put the message away, returning his focus to the envelope from Drishti. He hoped it was good news, maybe a treasure or something valuable to him. A new quarterstaff, perhaps?

His temporary vine had shattered inside his storage, so he needed a replacement. He opened the envelope with cautious curiosity and read the short message inside. He blinked. Reread it. Blinked again. Read it a third time. It said:"To my darling Joe, Return to India at once so we can get married and have many babies together. Drishti." Joe very, very carefully folded the letter, slid it back into his storage ring, and made a silent vow: I am never setting foot in India ever again.

He activated Random Teleportation and vanished from Madagascar. Somewhere in India, a red Salamander laughed…