Bonus Story : The Fighter of 4B : Part 2 : The Investigation

The following days failed to provide Aldric with the answers he had hoped for. On the contrary, each evening added new information to a situation that was becoming increasingly difficult to explain. At first, he had tried to stop paying attention to the shouting coming from 4B, but Thomas continued announcing his deaths, his returns, his mana problems, and his battles against opponents Aldric knew nothing about.

After three days, the section of his notebook dedicated to his neighbor had expanded across two full pages. Aldric opened it one evening before returning to his reading and reviewed the information he had recorded.

Deaths: 23

Dragons Fought: 7

Towers Destroyed: 11

Bases Attacked: 4

Mana Depleted: 9 Times

Hostile Junglers: Several

Baron: Nature Unknown

Despite several additional mentions, he had still been unable to determine exactly what "Baron" was. The individual, creature, or location seemed to appear regularly after a certain amount of time, cause a noticeable increase in the noise coming from Thomas's apartment, and require the involvement of several combatants.

Necromancy: 0.1%

"Why is it not zero?"

The possibility was absurdly unlikely, but it still existed. That detail alone was enough to prevent him from considering the matter completely resolved.

The following morning, Aldric left his apartment to go to work and encountered the building manager in the lobby. The man was standing behind his counter with several packages stacked beside him. Aldric was about to greet him when he noticed one of the names printed on a shipping label.

Thomas Morel Apartment 4B

The box was medium-sized. There was nothing on the outside to indicate what it contained.

"Good morning, Aldric," the building manager said.

"Good morning."

"You have a lot of deliveries today."

"Almost every day."

The building manager gestured toward the pile with a tired smile.

"That one's for Thomas again. He's always ordering stuff."

"What kind of equipment?"

The building manager shrugged.

"Computer stuff, mostly. Keyboard, mouse, headset... that sort of thing."

"Nothing dangerous?"

"Dangerous?"

"Yes."

"No..."

"No weapons?"

"Why would Thomas be ordering weapons?"

"I was testing a hypothesis."

"Right..."

"Have a good day."

"You too..."

Aldric headed toward the exit.

"I revealed nothing."

He had asked three simple questions and had given no specific information about his suspicions. The System clearly did not share his assessment.

Aldric left the building.

Later that week, he encountered Thomas in the stairwell. His neighbor was heading downstairs with his phone in hand and looked far more awake than during their previous encounter.

"Good morning."

"Hey."

Aldric waited until Thomas reached him.

"Did your evening end well yesterday?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"The dragon?"

"Oh, you heard me?"

"Yes."

"Sorry if I'm too loud."

"Did you get it?"

"Yeah."

"Is it dead?"

"Yeah..."

"Permanently?"

Thomas burst out laughing.

"Until the next one."

"So there will be another."

"Every five minutes, yeah. Well, roughly. It depends."

"I see."

In truth, Aldric did not see at all.

Thomas continued down a few more steps.

"Have a good day!"

"You too."

In his world, certain creatures possessed exceptional regenerative abilities. Some entities could even return after being destroyed if their essence had not been completely eradicated. However, no species of dragon Aldric knew was capable of reappearing every five minutes.

He added the information to his notebook anyway.

Dragon: Periodic Reappearance Probable.

Reported Interval: Approximately 5 Minutes.

That same evening, Thomas started again.

"MID TOWER!"

Aldric looked up from his book.

"IT'S DEAD!"

A tower could be destroyed. A tower could collapse. A tower could potentially be abandoned. He had never heard anyone describe a tower as "dead." He opened his notebook.

New phrasing: death applied to a structure.

"WE'RE LOSING THE SECOND TOWER!"

Aldric put down his book. Two defensive structures had been destroyed within a matter of minutes, yet there had been no explosions, no sounds of collapse, and no alarms. He stood and walked over to the window to look down at the street. The buildings were intact.

Aldric returned to his couch.

"He really must be using specialized terminology."

Over the following days, he therefore tried to stop analyzing every shout. He even managed to ignore several additional deaths, two dragons, and another mention of the mysterious Baron. Then came one particularly eventful evening. Aldric was sitting in his living room when a shout louder than the others carried through the ceiling.

"THERE ARE FIVE OF THEM! THE JUNGLER'S HERE!"

Thomas was speaking much faster than usual.

"WE LOST THE TOWER!"

Aldric closed his book.

"THEY'RE IN THE BASE!"

This time, he stood.

"DRAGON!"

Aldric turned his head toward his armor and Dawnbringer.

"NO, NO, NO! HELP ME!"

Aldric took a step toward the hallway.

"I'M DEAD!"

He walked over to the corner of the room where his armor and Dawnbringer rested. His old equipment had remained unused for several months, but Aldric still maintained it regularly, checking the straps, cleaning each piece, and making sure the metal did not deteriorate.

The armor was exactly where he had left it. Aldric removed his shirt and began putting it on. He adjusted the chest plate, tightened the straps at his sides, secured his bracers, and then fastened the protection around his legs.

Once the final piece was secured, Aldric reached for Dawnbringer and wrapped his fingers around the hilt.

Aldric stepped out of his apartment, closed the door behind him, and headed toward the stairs, his boots echoing against the floor with every step.

As he began to descend, a door opened and a man Aldric knew only by sight poked his head into the hallway. His gaze settled first on Aldric before slowly moving down to his armor, then to Dawnbringer. Aldric inclined his head as he reached him.

"Good evening."

"Good evening..."

Aldric continued down the stairs without stopping, and when he reached the next floor, he heard the door close behind him.

The closer he came to 4B, the more distinct the sounds became.

"FUCK!"

Aldric placed a hand on Dawnbringer and covered the last few meters separating him from 4B. He had barely reached the door when he heard Thomas shout again.

"I'M DEAD!"

Aldric knocked three times, but there was no response from inside. He waited two seconds before knocking harder.

"Mr. Morel?"

Still nothing. His gaze shifted to the handle as he considered forcing his way inside if the situation required it, but another shout suddenly came from behind the door.

"REVIVE! REVIVE!"

Aldric placed his left hand on the door handle while keeping the other wrapped around Dawnbringer. He calculated the angle required to force his way inside without risking injury to anyone who might be standing directly behind the door. Aldric drew a breath as he prepared to intervene when the handle suddenly turned.