From Moving Crates to Killing Gods-Chapter 64: Juice Friend

I pulled on my last boot and stood, testing my weight. My body responded with a kind of fluid motion that felt new, my muscles filled with potential energy, joints flexing without a hint of stiffness.

Constitution at level 10 had transformed more than just my recovery speed, it had fundamentally changed how I experienced my own body. I felt solid, durable in a way I’d never been before, as if my very cells had been reinforced.

I reached for my yo-yo. This small object had become more than just a childhood token, it was a weapon now, a tool for my power.

As I moved toward my door, my reflection caught my eye in the mirror, no longer the gaunt, haunted exile who’d stumbled back into Argent. My frame had filled out from the constant training and meat heavy diet. My eyes had changed too, carrying a weight that hadn’t been there before. The eyes of someone who had killed, who had survived, who was becoming something beyond an ordinary orphan.

The door slid open at my touch, revealing Coco standing in the corridor, his orange hair as vibrant as ever against the dark obsidian walls.

"You’re finally up." he said, his usual childish attitude subdued. "Feeling better?"

"Much better." I replied, stepping into the hallway. "Like I could run a hundred laps again, but without bleeding from my eyes."

Coco glanced nervously up and down the corridor before lowering his voice. "Speaking of bleeding... I wanted to tell you that I cleaned up the black stains you left."

My heart skipped. "What stains?"

"The ones from the Corruptor blood." he whispered. "You left a trail all through the obsidian hallway when you came back. Black footprints, smudges on the walls. I used my water canteen to clean it all off."

I stared at him, realization dawning. I had been so focused on getting to my room, on hiding from questions, that I’d completely overlooked the evidence I was leaving behind. Actual physical evidence that I’d been outside the barrier. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"I even cleaned your silver door plaque." Coco continued. "Your handprint was there in black. Luckily the dark color of the obsidian hallway helped mask most of it until I could clean it up, but still... you need to be more careful."

The simple kindness of the act struck me. Coco could have told someone, could have left the evidence for others to find, could have demanded explanations. Instead, he’d silently protected me, asking nothing in return.

"Coco, I..." The words caught in my throat. "Thank you. Seriously. I owe you for that."

He shrugged, but I could see the pleased look in his eyes. "Just don’t make a habit of coming back covered in monster goop, okay? My water canteen only holds so much."

I laughed, the tension breaking. "I’ll try my best. And I promise, I’ll pay back the favor someday."

"You can start by not dying." he suggested, his usual cheerful tone returning. "It makes everyone sad, and sad people drink less juice, which shouldn’t ever happen."

With that bizarre Coco statement, he gave me a small wave and continued down the corridor. I watched him go, wondering when exactly I’d acquired friends who would clean up my messes without questioning why they existed in the first place.

The training room waited, and with it, more questions I’d have to answer. Phinyx would be there, and unlike Coco, he wouldn’t be satisfied with vague explanations. He’d seen me using Quickstep, and had witnessed its devastating effects. And after days of sitting by my unconscious body, he deserved some truth.

At least the truth about the spell. About what had happened.

The corridor stretched before me, familiar yet somehow different now that I knew I’d once traversed it leaving a trail of monster blood in my wake. The spire hummed with its usual quiet energy, the original Ones going about their business, giving me curious glances. Word of my collapse had clearly spread.

When I reached the training room, Phinyx was already there, sitting cross legged near the entrance in his usual meditative posture. His eyes opened as I approached, widening slightly at the sight of me walking normally.

"You’re up." he said, rising to his feet in one fluid motion. "And apparently not dead."

"Disappointed?" I asked, offering a small smile.

"Relieved." he corrected, studying me with unusual intensity. "Though I’m wondering if you’re going to explain what exactly happened the other day, or if I should just accept that my friend occasionally turns into a blur, bleeds from his face and proceeds to be unresponsive for a couple of days."

"It’s called Quickstep." I said. "It’s a spell from the field magic book I’ve been studying for the last couple of months."

Phinyx’s eyebrows rose. "A spell? Like, actual magic? Not just your Switch ability?"

"Different from Switch." I confirmed. "It requires visualizing a complex pattern of three interlinked spheres that have to rotate in perfect harmony. When I get it right, I can move across space almost instantly."

"So that’s how you broke a hundred laps." Phinyx said slowly. "You weren’t just running fast, you were... what, teleporting?"

I shook my head. "Not teleportation. More like... extreme acceleration. I’m still moving through the space between points, just doing it much faster than normal."

Phinyx rubbed his chin, his usual laid-back demeanor replaced by focused curiosity. "And that’s what caused the backlash? Moving too fast for your body to handle?"

"For my mind, actually. The spell requires intense concentration. Each activation strains the neural pathways. Do it too many times in succession..."

"And your brain starts getting blended and leaking out through your ears." Phinyx finished. "Nasty vibe, man."

I couldn’t help but laugh at his blunt summary. "Yeah, that about covers it."

"But you’re going to use it again." It wasn’t a question.

I nodded. "It’s too valuable not to use. But I’ll be more careful. No more trying to set speed records by spamming it until I pass out."