"You fucking fucktard old man!"
Rory's voice tore through the air like a jagged blade. Fury radiated off him in waves as he surged to his feet and stormed toward the old man seated cross-legged on the floor.
Subaru reacted instantly, jumping between them to shield the elder from whatever violent intentions Rory harboured.
"Get out of my goddamn way, you traitorous bastard! Move before I lose it!" Rory roared, his tone laced with venom. His eyes, wild and bloodshot, locked on Subaru with unrelenting rage.
The tension in the room skyrocketed as the aide, recognizing the immediate threat, also stood. Despite his lean build, he effortlessly joined Subaru to hold Rory back, his grip ironclad.
"I apologize, Hero if I've caused you any inconvenience," Tullus said evenly, still seated, unshaken by the turmoil around him.
Nathan watched the old man's calm composure and couldn't help but wonder, was it because he truly believed in the aide's strength, or was he simply too detached from fear? Either way, it was clear: Tullus wasn't flinching.
And Rory? No matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't advance a step. The aide held his ground with quiet force, not retaliating, just containing the inferno of Rory's wrath.
"Inconvenience? You want to talk about inconvenience? Just let me get my hands on you. I'll show you what real trouble looks like!"
Rory's throat strained with every shout, his face twisted in fury. But still, he remained rooted, unable to cross the invisible line guarded by the aide's unyielding presence.
"What the hell is wrong with all of you?!" Rory snarled, turning to face the rest of the group. "Did none of you get the same quest alert I did?!"
His voice rang out louder than ever, a desperate cry soaked in rage. Subaru stepped forward slightly, speaking for the rest of the group. "You're not making any sense. Why are you so worked up all of a sudden?"
"Worked up?!" Rory snapped. "Do you people even understand how the quest ranking system works?! Do you comprehend the level of danger we're staring at?!"
His voice carried a rawness that silenced the room.
In Origin Expanse, the mysterious World Voice occasionally bestowed quests upon Awakened. But it wasn't a daily occurrence, it was a rare phenomenon. And when such quests did appear, they came with a threat level that dictated the scale of the looming catastrophe.
Beta: Threat to a single individual.
Predator: Danger to a small village.
Terror: Capable of wiping out a town.
Calamity: Poses a threat to an entire city.
Hazardous: National-level disaster.
Disaster: Endangerment of a whole continent.
Catastrophe: Global destruction on a scale never before encountered.
Those were the known threat levels and the quest they'd just received wasn't minor. Not even close.
Rory's voice trembled with fury and disbelief. "Calamity. A goddamn Calamity-ranked quest! This senile bastard just handed us a literal death sentence. We're all walking corpses now!"
His fury flared again as he turned to glare at Tullus, trembling with the need to act but paralyzed by restraint.
And really, could anyone blame him?
The others, now fully grasping the implications, began to shift uncomfortably. Their panic was subtle, not overt, but Nathan saw it, the creeping shadows of dread reflected in their eyes.
Subaru, especially. As someone Nathan guessed had a family, perhaps children waiting back home. His terror must've been immense. After all, no parent wishes to leave behind loved ones for an uncertain fate.
And Marvelous? The elderly woman looked composed, but Nathan doubted she was immune to fear. Logically, she had less to lose than the others, but that didn't make her situation any easier.
Then there was the girl. Emotionally unreadable, her face betrayed nothing. Nathan studied her for a moment, youthful, sure, but with an air of grounded confidence. She didn't seem overly naive or haughty. Like a well-balanced brew neither too bitter nor too sweet.
Still, the fear had touched them all.
"Let's just say, for argument's sake, this old man is at fault," Nathan said finally, his voice low but steady. "We're not exactly blameless either. We gave him a chance to speak."
He wasn't wrong. Regardless of who lit the fuse, the explosion was inevitable. This was the tutorial phase of Origin Expanse, the crucible where new players were tested for worthiness. If not Tullus, then someone else. If not today, then tomorrow. The test was coming either way.
Rory growled. "Don't feed me that crap, kid. He set us up, and you want me to accept it?!"
Of course. Nathan didn't expect him to embrace logic, not in this state. Rory was all fire and heat, incapable of calm reflection.
"So?" Nathan countered. "What's all this screaming going to solve?"
Rory bristled but remained shackled by the aide's grip.
"Listen," Nathan continued. "I get it. You're angry. Terrified, even. So am I. But yelling won't change the reality we're stuck in. The quest has been issued. Unless you've figured out how to undo the World Voice's will, I suggest you take a breath, sit your ass down, and think. We need a plan to survive, not more noise."
The silence that followed was suffocating.
It wasn't that Nathan was braver than the rest. Far from it. He was just better at hiding it.
The truth?
He was a recluse, a basement-dwelling shut-in who'd spent more time behind screens than in sunlight. Now, he stood in a foreign world where death was more than theoretical. And the fear?
Oh, it was there.
Curling inside him like a venomous serpent. Cold. Slithering. Sinking into his bones. He was scared out of his mind.
But unlike the others, Nathan wore his fear like armor. Quiet. Subtle. Hidden beneath layers of dry wit and cold logic.
Even if a part of him wanted to curl up and disappear, he wouldn't let that part win.