World's Last Hope-Chapter 114: Hopefully no

Everybody, including Master Talon, were exhausted on their way back.

And yet the Awakened didn’t let their fatigue cloud their judgment. Just recently, they had witnessed something happening outside of the Master’s expectations.

If one time they were attacked when they didn’t expect it, there was a chance that they would be again, and again.

As such, the fear that there could always be something lying hidden outside of their gaze, ready to attack at any moment, terrified the Awakened beyond belief.

Kyle wasn’t an exception, as he too felt the pressure. Just recently, he had thought that there wasn’t any danger around them, but he quickly changed his mind.

He now acted as if there was a monster waiting at every corner, getting ready to attack at a moment’s notice.

He didn’t realize it himself, but his breathing was shallower than before, as he tried to limit the amount of sound he was creating.

Seeing the Awakened act this way made Talon feel proud.

"I hope you understand it now. That there is always a chance that you are attacked when you least expect it. As such, you always act with caution."

The Awakened nodded as they continued their march to the city gates.

There was something else that drained on them. When they were going deeper, most of them had underestimated the amount of distance they had walked for the walls, but as they were now returning, they found the distance to be much larger than they expected.

Was it because, now unlike before, they were constantly on edge? Or was it because they were more exhausted, making the walk appear bigger and harder than it was?

Nevertheless, even without the Master spelling it out, they now knew that when they would be going deep in the death zone in the future, they should consider how much they have walked and preserve enough strength to return.

"How much longer?" one man complained.

"My legs are killing me!" a woman spoke as well.

Seeing that the Awakened were growing impatient, the Master reassured them, "We are close."

True to his word, it didn’t take them much longer until they saw the tall walls on the horizon.

Kyle felt a fire within him as he gazed at these walls.

These walls didn’t just represent his home, they represented hope. If it wasn’t for the mighty walls that had stopped tall for so many years, humanity would have gone extinct long ago.

There was one thing that he could tell with certainty, these walls will never fall... no, humanity would never let them fall.

He shifted his gaze to the other Awakened around him, seeing the light in their eyes as they stared and smiled at the mighty walls. He concluded that they felt the same.

After about thirty minutes, they finally reached the gates from which they had exited before and returned to the city.

As soon as they did, everybody except Master Talon collapsed on their knees as they took a breath of relief.

Now, as they were in the city, the air didn’t feel so hostile anymore, it felt pleasant. Not to mention the feeling of safety provided by the walls had returned.

Talon wondered if he should scold them, but in the end, he decided that they had earned this break.

As such, he didn’t interrupt them.

"Once you are done, go and take a shower," he spoke as he left them be.

Kyle, after taking a considerable amount of time resting, got on his feet and headed to the room he had been assigned.

The first thing he did after entering was to lock the door—something that wasn’t possible in his old home, as his door didn’t have a lock.

Undressing, he dropped his clothes on the ground and entered the bathroom, getting ready to enjoy the shower.

Once the hot water hit his body, he felt like he had entered heaven. This was one other luxury that he hadn’t been able to enjoy before, as hot showers were a rarity.

Before he realized it, a smile had appeared on his face. Despite the exhaustion he was feeling, he was proud.

He had entered the death zone, managed to slay a monster, and returned to the city alive—being able to tell the tale.

But this wasn’t his biggest and proudest accomplishment, because he had decided to fight for the city and had been awarded a home for his family—one much better than their old one!

His father was able to quit his job and was sure to find a better one soon! He was not going to work like a slave anymore!

His sister would be able to get a proper education, unlike himself, who never had that chance.

"I hope they are doing alright," he muttered under his breath. In truth, he knew that they were.

He had personally gone and inspected their new home after all! And the best part was that it was very close to the coast, meaning that the air they breathed wasn’t going to be polluted like before.

"This is truly a blessing," he exited the shower and dried himself. After he was done, he exited his room and went to eat dinner.

*****

The dozen Awakened that were training under Master Talon had been provided with a large room enough to fit all of them.

All of them had decided to eat at the same time, as such now was the time for small talk and making friends.

Or at least that should have been what should have happened, but instead, everybody was too busy stuffing their faces.

Especially Kyle, he couldn’t stop his tears as he ate. The vegetables were fresh and there was meat! And not a little, but a lot. More than he had ever seen in his life!

He had to stop and pinch himself multiple times just to make sure that he wasn’t dreaming.

Not that anybody could have blamed him, considering that this food was something he thought he would never have access to.

’If I knew that all I had to do was risk my life to get access to these goods, then I would have done it much sooner!’ he thought as he continued to eat as much as he could.

Originally, he thought that Master Talon was supposed to be here with them, but strangely enough, he was nowhere to be seen. Supposedly he had been called for some important meeting.

’Well, I doubt it concerns me,’ Kyle thought, not slowing down on how fast he was eating the food at all.

*****

With a grunt, he stood up.

The only negative that came with working as an Awakened—besides risking your life on a daily basis—was that you were supposed to get up early.

Which didn’t concern Kyle at all, as he had been getting up much earlier before when he worked at the mines.

He took his time to stretch and dress up before exiting.

He was now standing in the row of Awakened as they awaited the Master.

Strangely enough, it seemed that the man was late today.

Kyle couldn’t help himself but throw a few glances at the Awakened standing in the row.

Most of them had their eyes half-closed, most likely not yet adjusted to getting up so early.

’Well, they will have to get used to it, I guess...’ Kyle thought as he waited patiently.

After about ten minutes, the Master finally showed himself.

Kyle’s eyes widened as he saw how tired the man was.

What had he done the previous night? Everybody wondered.

He didn’t look like the type to spend his time with women, so Kyle doubted that was the case.

’Then was it that meeting that suddenly took place?’ he wondered.

"Good morning, pick your weapons, we are going to spar today," Talon spoke. His voice carried a hint of tiredness.

Not being able to contain his curiosity, Kyle asked,

"Sir, is everything alright?"

The master met his gaze and took a moment to reply.

"Probably."

"There is a rumor that you had been called over for an important talk. Is that true?" It seemed one man was also curious, but unlike Kyle, he lacked the knowledge on how to ask nicely.

Talon scoffed. "Yeah, there was a talk," though his voice didn’t sound amused in the slightest. It was cold and distant.

"And is there something dangerous going on?" the man asked, not knowing how to read the room.

Master Talon gave him a annoyed look which made the Awakened tremble a bit under his gaze before the master finally spoke.

"Hopefully no... Hopefully no..."

Kyle shivered as he heard the answer. He wanted to ask what the Master meant by that.

But something told him that he shouldn’t meddle in the issue.

And everybody seemed to come to the same conclusion as they didn’t bring up the issue again. Even though they tried to hide it, it was obvious that there was a question in everybody’s mind.

What was that issue that managed to put their Master in such a bad mood?