The permanent eclipse on the gray sky helped in mirroring the moonlit night with cloudy weather. The light, comfortably cold breeze only added to the atmosphere.

They weren't making much progress on the foot anyway, so staying at the high rocky place was decided. The burning fire gave comfortable heat, a quiet moment in an otherwise hectic night.

Sulthar had reported twice using the sacrium sword. He defended himself and flew past the spider monsters when they appeared; the rest was just him flying around and going through one invisible distortion wall after another.

20-something minutes.

This floor had to be a one-time thing, or he wouldn't be able to meet the pigmen sun god today.

"..didn't even take a minute."

Damian caught the last few words said by Sam after the second report waygate closed from Sulthar's side.

"Most don't even remember their random ideas long enough to test them, and he just makes things up right after thinking about them. It's cheating, I say," Mindseer added.

"Right? He should be whipped!" Lucian added, earning confused looks from people around her.

Damian could not help but sigh internally.

"Dear girlfriend of mine," He said, "Your words wound me."

The narrowed eyes of people turned from Lucian to Damian. That was uncalled for.

Lucian stared at him for some tense, silent seconds before saying,

"You pushed us aside before facing a real threat, again." The tone was serious; others sensed it too, unsure how to react.

"You are—" Damian was about to reply, but was cut off by Sam.

"Weak? Unhelpful? A burden?"

Damian finished the sentence anyway, "—young." Then, looking at the expressions of the two transcendents who were his closest friends, he felt like adding,

"It is the youth in you that holds on to the notions of needless sacrifice, a need to prove yourself, a need to remain loyal even when the loyalty only means death. Most moments of life are more burden than a shining moment of glory or a place for showing high emotions. Sometimes it's just simple calculations. That's what keeps a man alive, thinking! a plan! Not stubbornness!"

He realized he might have said more than he should have. But these two were his closest people, and he wanted them to understand.

Sam gritted his teeth and stood up, "Calculations!? Plan? What was your plan when that damned monster pierced your chest with his spear? Was your plan to turn into a giant monster at the end time?"

"That.."

Damian had no words for that; it was indeed a mistake. He had not expected the damn Sea Snake to attack him with his most powerful attack so soon. He put too much faith in the coat of seven. That thing was not invincible, not against monsters like Sea Snake and Landbreaker.

Lucian's voice was more hurt than loud, "Did you not think for once about me, about us, before doing something so unnecessarily dangerous?"

"I told you it was a mistake. One, I promise not to repeat. Do you wish to punish me for it? Is that it!?"

"No man," Sam sat down, annoyed.

"All I am saying.. " Then he paused, "I have no idea what the fuck I am saying, but it doesn't feel right. I can't help you! I can never help you! Normal days its bad enough, then you go and do such things.. Because of you, I am still breathing and alive, or that damned faerunian cell would have become my unnamed grave."

The reflection of the burning fire in Sam's eyes was highlighted with new moisture filling them.

"Because of you, I have Grace, because of you, Anthony is with me.. Too much! I owe you too fucking much! There is nothing I can do to pay back.. You are already better at everything than me. I am not even strong enough to say 'I can protect you or that 'let me fight in your place.."

"It's crushing.." Lucian said, her voice straining.

"I know it's wrong of us to complain about such a stupid thing. But staying near you, it feels like there is an invisible wall that we can never cross. Yes, probably we are inexperienced, and we are frustrated with our own inability to aid you, but it is also true that you do not need us.. Without you, our life wouldn't exist, but without us.. nothing would change in yours."

What was going on? What are they saying?

He couldn't bear to look at their emotional faces and was forced to look down at the ash.

Damian's mind raced to make heads and tails of the spiraling conversation and at last came to a conclusion.

'We are not equal anymore.'

It was easy to ignore in peacetime. But when it came to face a powerful enemy.. his resourcefulness was also a reason for alienation from his own peers. It was even more glaring because Damian never cared about the ranks or powers a person held in his normal life. To him, a mundane, first ranker, or fourth ranker were just the same people with different physics.

Because this power, mana, aura, status.. it was all new and was not tied with any kind of social value. To him, people were simply.. people. But in this world, living, growing up.. levels and ranks were how a person was valued.

Because he did things way out of his own class, rank, and levels limit.. he unknowingly broke the most fundamental of social structures that came naturally to everyone. His existence.. made people uncomfortable.

Lucian and Sam were most affected by it because they had seen him at his weakest. Before he became one of the most powerful beings on the planet. They felt like he was leaving them behind, that the gap was just going to increase..

The gap in power that will slowly become the gap in their.. status. Seperating them from the bond they once shared.

Damian looked up, meeting both Sam and Lucian's eyes,

"You know about me.. About the real me. I never had anyone I could call mine before. I lived on my own, looked after my own self, fed myself, wiped my own tears when life got hard. Friends, colluegues, relationships.. I learned very early on I had to make an effort to keep them. The more I did.. more useful I was.. more they needed me."

Sam and Lucian's eyes widened in realization.

Damian continued, "Perhaps.. this single-minded personality of mine is not suited for leadership. I get so lost in finding solutions for issues that I forget to even ask if they are even issues to others or not. Being a keeper just highlights this side of mine."

Damian shook his head,

"Both of you are wrong. There is no debt. You do not owe me anything. People who love each other do not keep score of things. Strength is not everything. Hundreds of times, I have made excuses to myself that if I did this, Sam's morals would not align with it. Just because you can't change something, doesn't mean you have to lower your voice before injustice—you, Sam, you taught me that."

Damian turned towards Lucian and stood up,

"The girl who would sacrifice her own happiness.. not once or twice, but as many times as they asked, even if they did nothing for her in return.. Lucian, you taught me that. You taught me there was more things in life than just looking out for my own self. Even if one had nothing, there is a bloody thing called honor in one's name—I learned that from you."

"If we are truly keeping score, I owe you two hundred times more than you do. If it wasn't for you two, I wouldn't be the man I am today. Hell.. from all the signs and situations life threw at me, I would have become a real demon if it wasn't for you and the others. Caring for nothing in life other than my own gains. Who can punch harder has nothing to do with how important you two are in my life."

Tears flowed down the cheeks of two human transcendents. Just one look at their faces and Damian could tell they had not realized even one fourth of how big an impact they were on him. It was truly an embarrassing thing to say aloud, and in front of people at that. But Damian was glad he did so.

They had a right to know.

Lucian took a few awkward steps and fell into his arms, sniffling on his shoulder. Damian's eyes met with Sam, and they stared at each other. There were no spells or skills used, but in that moment, Damian felt like the man scanned his mind and found the things he had said to be true somehow. He too walked a few steps and joined in the hug.

Damian heard a few more sniffles and rolled his eyes at Mindseer and Veltrax. Mindseer, he understood. What the fuck did the red demon bastard have to be so emotional about?

The intimate moment was interrupted by a small coin-sized waygate forming near Damian's right hand. Sulthar relayed the message.

The key point was finally found.

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