The woman looked at Vyrel after he mentioned Olivia's name.
V-Vy?
The woman was indeed Olivia, she was covered in bruise and blood.
The horrendous look in her face that seemed like she saw something disturbing, Vyrel worried and asked Olivia where Arthur is.
"H-hey Olivia! Where is Arthur? Where is he?"
Olivia's tears came down from her eyes "A-arthur is in the forest, W-we were just doing a quest yesterday for an escort. W-when we came back we were suddenly attacked by a helmed bear"
People gossip "A-a helmed bear? Isn't that an A-class creature? Where did it come from?"
Vyrel who just learned that a helmed bear is an A-class creature "T-then Arthur will be okay right? H-He's strong right? Right?"
Olivia cried hearing those words come out of Vyrel's mouth "Sob, Sob. H-he said that I need to go to the guild to request help, And he'll handle the helmed beast until help arrives"
Olivia's eyes were teary and full of doubt that Arthur will survive until help arrives. Hearing Olivia's report, Vyrel started tearing up and asked for help from the receptionist.
The receptionist explained "Reinforcements will arrive soon, But all the helm riders aren't here. Although the soldiers have been informed about the situation"
Those words were reassuring and doubtful at the same time to Vyrel "No helm riders? Do you think mere soldiers can defeat a helmed beast? Isn't it a helm rider's duty to protect their citizens? How can they be so oblivious that they're leaving their posts at a crucial time?"
Those words echoed throughout the guild house, Olivia whose powerless can only cry in despair from Vyrel's words.
People around them whisper around "Hah, such a shame that guy holding off that helmed bear is probably dead by now" He hears them and shouts at the people whispering.
"What? You think you can do better? What if it was you in Arthur's position?"
He was filled with hatred and sadness from the thought that his friend is dead/
Olivia was still crying. Filled with sadness and regret she relapsed her memories with Arthur from where they separated in the forest "Hey Olivia! Go! Request backup now! I'll hold this bastard off!" Those were the last words she heard of Arthur's mouth.
Vyrel was still staring at the people knowing he was also helpless in the situation. He hoped to have grown stronger to help his friend from disaster, but he's still inexperienced and powerless.
"Obtaining a helm doesn't mean you're immediately strong" These words that he was reminded of from the guard on the gate, he kneeled down from despair thinking if he were much stronger he could run and help his friend.
He forgot about the smithy and stayed at the guild with Olivia, waiting for several hours just to receive words from the soldiers that helped.
The receptionist was the one to first get the information about the situation of the forest. Hearing the news, the receptionist's face turned horror, her feet gave out and she collapsed to the ground shivering.
Vyrel and Olivia noticed the commotion and ran towards the receptionist. Olivia was concerned "H-hey! Emillou! Are you okay? Why did you collapse?"
Emillou looked at Olivia and Vyrel tears flowed down her eyes "O-Olivia, V-Vy. A-Arthur is..... He's dead....."
Olivia knelt to the ground and tears came pouring down her eyes, and Vyrel's face darkened. Olivia couldn't make a voice up her mouth, Vyrel got furious and asked the already weak emillou "Hey! What are you even saying? Does it even make sense?"
Emillou couldn't talk back to him and just pointed at the Knights standing next to her "Hey lad" one of the knights said "Arthur died fighting a helmed bear, He was brave yet that braveness couldn't save him. The reinforcements couldn't arrive much sooner"
Vyrel fell into a rage and demanded why they arrived late "Late? You think being late is a good reason for not saving my friend?"
The knights sighed "Hey kid, Do you think Arthur is the only one who died? There were several other adventurers who were killed by other helmed beasts . And you dare ask us why we were late? It was unfortunate enough that we lost five of our troops, and you think losing your friend is us being lazy!?"
Vyrel tried to argued back but was held back by Olivia, Although weak she got up and thanked the knights for trying their best.
Vyrel went silent, lost in his own thoughts. He blamed himself, thinking if he were strong enough he would have protected his friend.
The despair was soon to come when Arthur's corpse was retrieved and cremated. The night was silent not a speck of a human's voice were heard. Only the sounds of insects echoed throughout the night.
Olivia was carrying Arthur's ashes, tears flowed down her eyes, sobbing endlessly. She cried the whole night that her bagged eyes were visible.
As she was walking through the last resting place of Arthur, regret flashed through her like a thunder. Regret that can never be fulfilled, her wish was simply to express her love to Arthur after the mission.
But that very mission broke that wish, she couldn't say a word to him. The promise that they would meet after help came did come true, but at the cost of one dying.
These thoughts were flooding Olivia's mind, and all she could do was cry in sorrow.
Eventually, after walking a grueling path, not physically painful but emotionally grueling.
This path that goes straight to Arthur's last resting place is where his adoptive parents were buried.
The raindrops made the scene more painful.
Vyrel on the other hand didn't go to Arthur's burial, but he instead locked himself up to blaverisk's storage in the smithy.
Inside the storage, Vyrel is sobbing nonstop. His uncle understood his situation and just let him use the storage room as a place of comfort for Vyrel.
Vyrel was crouched down, his head looking at the ground, tears dropped to the rough stone floor.
He was filled with sorrow and blame, he blamed himself that he couldn't save his friend. This thought of him was craving him like an aphid delivering diseases to a host.
His eyes were sore from all the crying, he slowly closed his eyes.
Just as he fell asleep, the Grey Helm suddenly appeared on its own. Vyrel was startled. He didn't command it to appear, but there it was right in front of him.
The sleepiness he was feeling suddenly disappeared when the Grey Helm popped up.
Vyrel walked up to the helm, and held it up in his arms. Through this gesture, the Grey Helm lit up, just like that grey jewel he held on the mental realm.
The light blinded him, but something else reached Vyrel's forehead. A hand of some sort, it was elegant yet feels ominous.
This hand made a gesture on his head, and some red fluid that looked like blood dripped on the hand.
The mysterious hand made a symbol on his head, and all this time Vyrel was clueless as he was blinded and the hand disappeared as the light faded.
The symbol on Vyrel's head that was hard to see also faded away as the light disappeared.
After the light eventually faded away, Vyrel was confused and clueless about the symbol on his head, but his senses told him that something touched his forehead.
Yet despite it he wasn't sure if it was just hallucinations from crying too much.
The Grey Helm was still in his hands, and he decided to wear it.
He worked up his courage and wore it, and in an instant he felt the excruciating pain surge up to him.
The mental pain lasted for four minutes straight, he still couldn't fully adapt to the pain.
Sweating and Panting, he opened his eyes and something felt odd to him.
The relics and weapons that surrounded the storage seemed odd, it was still emitting the same light but something is off.
He rushed to the knife and scarab that glowed golden, he inspected it and found something near the very center of the knife.
A code-like structure was embedded into it, there wasn't anything like this before.
"W-what is this? This wasn't here before, What does this mean?"