The Earth After Rebirth

"Sir. I hope you're not feeling an obligation towards me, why did you team me up with you?" Nikolai asked as they walked their separate ways from the other teams.

Sekani laughed lightly, "of course I feel an obligation towards you. Not only are you my son's friend, I'm also the one who allowed you to come here. No matter how you want to look at it, I'm responsible for you and I intend to do my job."

He didn't care what it would sound like to Nikolai whether this would make him feel less of a man, his life to Sekani mattered more than just his ego.

"I can take care of myself." He shot back pouting.

As tall as Nikolai was, Sekani towered over him. So when he stopped walking and turned to look at the boy, Nikolai was too slow to stop before he bumped into him.

"I don't doubt that you can." He ruffled his hair. "But you should be more open with people, let me help you. Don't turn into another Kiro who wants to carry all the burdens himself. You know I had to beg him for this slave mine? I had to beg him to trust me that I can take care of it."

Nikolai had no idea why Kiro would be so distrusting when he had parents like them. At least he had an excuse for being the way he was, then it dawned on him, according to Kronos he'd given him many lives to save them from the ancient ones.

While it was good that he didn't remember every single one of them, he did remember his last one. Being a kid from the slums, he didn't have to use much of an imagination to draw a picture of how horrible his life must have been.

He understood then that a child could have great parents and a great environment but still turn out distrusting of everything around them. Everything one encountered shaped them one way of another.

Even this experience, liberating people from slavery, killing their oppressors, possibly killing his own father. This would shape him too, it were up to him whether it was negatively impact him, or positively.

"Uhm okay, I'll trust you to have my back. I'll have yours as well." He said removing Sekani's hand on his head.

He couldn't help that Sekani saw him as a child, but he can prove it with his own two hands that he was on the same level as everyone else in this team.

Sekani smiled, he didn't say anything in return. He just turned and started walking.

The road was treacherous to say the least, Wilfred either forgot to say anything about it or didn't see that it was relevant. Which it was, those who were not fit enough would have trouble going up this mountainous road.

Not that they wouldn't be able to climb it but just that it would be a very challenging climb. They were not in any hurry, as they would still have to wait for the sun before they could act.

"Hey, how come your family was in the slums until the game introduced real life exchange?" Asking something so person wasn't his intention but it came out of him anyway.

Nikolai was starting to feel the road at the back of his legs, he figured a distraction would be worth it or he risked collapsing on the ground.

"Why do you ask?" Sekani didn't stop or turn this time.

"You are definitely a natural leader, you're also very smart looking at how easily your company rose from the ground." He answered huffing loudly.

Sekani howled with laughter, he didn't show any signs that he was fatigued. He wasn't sure Nikolai needed to know everything but understood why he decided to talk all of a sudden, so he indulged him.

"Life in the slums is pretty bad, it's even worse because those who are rich constantly put us down. When you have a great idea and you're naive enough to think your boss will help you with it, that's how you get stuck at the bottom."

Nikolai felt a little inadequate hearing the man speak and there wasn't a hint in his voice that he was feeling the heat he was feeling. And Sekani wasn't, not really, he was older and could time his breaths perfectly.

"So that's what happened to you?"

"Unfortunately yes, I was young, married with a little child. My ambitions completely blindsided my senses and I lost everything. But thank gods Blakeson was idiotic enough to take my work before I finished the product, he saw what I wanted to do and took the idea for himself, hired people to finish it.

"I was very angry when this happened. I wanted anything, whatever little money he would give me if I worked on it and finished it, I was thinking about my family.

But he was scared that I would sabotage it, and that was truly a blessing in disguise because many more years later, thanks to my son, I was able to finish what I started and patent it as my own because while they're similar, they're very different."

Sekani went on and on about vigilance and how lucky Nikolai was that he didn't grow up in the slums with a less than negative opportunity to make it in life.

"I, I don't feel fortunate." He could feel a sharp pain in his abdomen, he was touching it as though that would make a difference.

"Why do you say that?" Sekani asked, he knew the kid was hiding something he just couldn't put it together what it was exactly that he was hiding. Or rather not telling him.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Nikolai shook his head, seeing the mine coming into view. Just then he broke out of his stupor, he didn't feel like he wanted to share anymore. Sekani didn't push him, there was still a little bit of light so they sat down to take a break.

"Thank you for this, thank you for allowing me to come." He laid on the ground, his eyes looking at the mine ahead.

Sekani simply nodded.