World's Last Hope-Chapter 88: Endless Cycle

’This feels nice,’ Eric thought.

Even though he had slept for so long, he wasn’t tormented by a single nightmare, which was a rare event, and it was no doubt because he was sleeping next to a certain somebody.

’But it is time to wake up,’ he grunted as he opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was the pristine white ceiling, it was clear that he was in Aria’s mansion.

Shifting his gaze to the side, he saw Aria as she was sleeping peacefully next to him. She was naked, and the only thing that covered her body was the blanket.

She was resting her head on his arm, and as such, trying not to wake her up, he slowly tried to pull away.

But alas, as a Grandmaster, she had heightened senses, so she immediately woke up, her eyes stopping on his.

"Good morning," she said as she stretched lazily.

"Sorry, didn’t want to wake you up," Eric shook his hand a bit as it was numb from having Aria rest her head on it.

"Don’t worry about it, it is time to get up anyway..." she yawned as she got up, massaging her eyes.

"If you say so," Eric muttered as he glanced at his clothes that were thrown on the floor and began to dress up.

Or at least he was going to until he realized something. "Ah... I have to take a shower," he muttered.

"Same..." Aria spoke as she glanced in his direction. Her eyes seemed to shine as she spoke, "Hey... want to take a shower together?"

Eric wasn’t a fool, so he didn’t object.

*****

’Fuck, I just got up, and I feel like I am going to pass out,’ Eric cursed as he silently ate his breakfast.

He shifted his gaze to the side. Aria was eating, looking unbothered—no, even more, she seemed energized!

Meanwhile, Grandmaster Gryndor was eating, not paying any attention to the two.

’Ah fuck, we were quite loud last night, weren’t we? I just hope her grandfather didn’t hear any of it. It’s not like I’m going to ask anyway.’

Trying to shake off the negative feelings, Eric focused on the food. He was eating heavily stacked pancakes that gave off an incredible aroma. He wasn’t going to ruin the moment, so he concentrated on eating.

Once they were done, there wasn’t a need for words as the three of them headed for the empty yard.

Aria sat in a certain spot with one leg over the other and closed her eyes. Eric wasn’t sure how meditation was going to help her understand her powers, but it wasn’t his place to ask. Maybe once he became a Grandmaster himself, he would be ready to learn the information.

And he had his own problems to worry about.

He gripped the wooden sword tightly and shifted his gaze to the old man, who was looking at him with indifference. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

’I feel like the old man is going to go extra hard today,’ Eric mentally prepared himself for what was about to come.

But surprisingly, the old man didn’t move. He took a deep breath before speaking, "It is morning, and yet you look tired. Did you perhaps not manage to get enough sleep?"

Eric gulped audibly before answering, "Honestly, my body still hurts from the last training, so I doubt any amount of sleep would be enough to recover."

He technically wasn’t lying.

Gryndor sighed. "I see... well, from now on, it’s only going to get harder."

The next moment, Eric found himself on his back.

He grunted as he got up. "This is going to be a long day," he muttered under his breath.

*****

He didn’t want to get up, it wasn’t worth it. There wasn’t a point—getting up only to slave away the whole day and collapse on the bed exhausted as soon as he got back home, and then repeat the cycle again and again endlessly, with no end in sight. Not a single day of rest, not a single moment of peace.

But he couldn’t sleep any longer, as a loud knocking on his door startled him awake.

"Kyle, dear, get up. You have overslept enough."

Kyle placed a hand on his head as he muttered in frustration, "Mother, why do you have to be so loud every time?"

Opening his eyes, the first thing he saw was the old ceiling that was barely keeping itself from falling.

Slowly, he got up from the bed as he stretched his body that bore countless black spots.

Quickly dressing up, he exited his room.

Usually, in a normal house, there would be a hallway that led to the different rooms, but here such a thing didn’t exist. The house was too small for a hallway, so exiting his room, Kyle immediately found himself in what they called the kitchen.

He observed his surroundings. His ten-year-old sister was quietly drawing on an old piece of paper with her pencil that was about to run out.

His mother was busy cooking something, though he wouldn’t have known if he hadn’t looked at her because, as always, there wasn’t any kind of scent from the food. The ingredients she was using were too cheap to produce any aroma, after all.

"Where is Father?" he asked as he sat on a barely stable chair and glanced at the old piece of bread in front of him that was supposed to be his breakfast.

"He hasn’t come back. It seems that he has been required to spend another night shift," she answered.

Taking a bite out of the hard bread, Kyle cursed, ’So after a whole night, they want him to spend the next day as well? It’s like we’re fucking slaves.’

Quickly finishing his bread, he said goodbye to his mother and sister and went out to go to work.

"This world is so unfair," he muttered. He wasn’t in the mood for work and decided to be late by a few minutes, walking at a slow pace as he looked at the sky that was still dark.

His shift started so early that even the sun had to catch up to him.

"Honestly, risking my life outside sounds better than slowly rotting inside," Kyle muttered in frustration.

He knew that being chosen and awakening was very dangerous, as most of the people that did would sooner or later perish outside. Very few actually managed to attain the status of Master.

But even so, he felt that risking his life outside would give his life meaning—not to mention the nice salary, of course.

He would be able to retire his father from work, he would be able to buy an expensive food that his mother could cook, and he would be able to send his sister to a nice school where she would learn how to read and write—unlike him, who had spent most of his life slaving away for a small salary.

"Hello, boss. Sorry, I’m late," Kyle bowed as he glanced at his boss.

His boss didn’t seem to mind as he gestured toward the mine.

"No matter, just get it done. Don’t forget—at least 100 kilograms a day."

Kyle bowed again, grabbed one of the old pickaxes on the shelf, and went into the mine.

Trying to ignore the burning in his lungs from the dirty air, he walked down a few hundred meters until he reached one of his favorite spots.

Taking a deep breath, he tightened the grip on his pickaxe and brought it down.

A few silver chunks fell to the ground. All of it was barely more than a hundred grams, and yet he was meant to dig a hundred kilograms every single day. Wasn’t this the same as slavery?

But it’s not like he had a choice. He needed the money, and the city, as it was constantly fighting the corruption in all directions, needed a constant supply of materials to create weapons. Silver was the most durable and easiest to refine if necessary—not to mention it was supremely effective against the corruption.

"This is going to be another long day..." Kyle muttered as he brought down his pickaxe again and again.

*****

Weighing the material, his boss smiled a little. "101 kilograms. Good job, Kyle. You are free for the day."

Kyle, barely standing on his legs, nodded as he glanced at the sky. It was the middle of the night.

He just wanted to sleep, so he got home as quickly as he could.

His sister was nowhere to be found, while his mother had fallen asleep waiting for him.

She awoke upon his entering, quickly stood up, and embraced him.

"Welcome back."

"Welcome," he muttered as he went to his room.

"Don’t you want to eat something?" she asked behind him.

He barely managed to mutter that he was too tired.

Entering his room, he removed his shirt and pants and collapsed on his bed.

And he was going to repeat the same process again tomorrow.