Chapter 97: [97] No Such Thing as Free Rides
Xavier’s headache intensified, each throb like a hammer striking an anvil inside his skull. He squeezed his eyes shut, willing the pain to subside, but it only grew stronger. This wasn’t normal—even his worst migraines had never felt this severe.
He tried to focus on his Input Buffer display, summoning it with a thought. The translucent pink interface flickered into existence, but the numbers and metrics wavered, difficult to read through the haze of pain.
HP: [■■■■■■■■■■■■■] 800/800
IB: [□□□□□□□□□□] 0/250
The display showed his health at full capacity despite the agony in his head. If he wasn’t taking damage, then the pain had to be from something else. Being separated from Calypso seemed the most likely cause—their divine entanglement meant they couldn’t be more than two hundred meters apart without consequences.
But I’m still alive, Xavier thought. That has to mean something.
The bearded man watched him with narrowed eyes. "You don’t look so good.."
Xavier dismissed the display with another thought and pressed his fingers against his temples. "Just a headache. It’ll pass." He took a deep breath of the frigid air, letting it fill his lungs. "I didn’t catch your name."
"Didn’t throw it," the man replied, then chuckled at his own joke. He scratched his beard, dislodging small crystals of ice that had formed in the thick hair. "Name’s Gunnar. Been trading between the settlements for thirty years now." He jerked a thumb toward the driver. "That’s Rachel. She’s the one who insisted we pick you up."
Xavier leaned forward to get a better look at the driver. The movement sent fresh pain lancing through his head, but he pushed through it. All he could see was the back of a fur-lined hood and shoulders wrapped in thick animal pelts.
"She’s a seer?"